pattern
    n 1: a perceptual structure; "the composition presents problems
         for students of musical form"; "a visual pattern must
         include not only objects but the spaces between them" [syn:
         form, shape, pattern]
    2: a customary way of operation or behavior; "it is their
       practice to give annual raises"; "they changed their dietary
       pattern" [syn: practice, pattern]
    3: a decorative or artistic work; "the coach had a design on the
       doors" [syn: design, pattern, figure]
    4: something regarded as a normative example; "the convention of
       not naming the main character"; "violence is the rule not the
       exception"; "his formula for impressing visitors" [syn:
       convention, normal, pattern, rule, formula]
    5: a model considered worthy of imitation; "the American
       constitution has provided a pattern for many republics"
    6: something intended as a guide for making something else; "a
       blueprint for a house"; "a pattern for a skirt" [syn:
       blueprint, design, pattern]
    7: the path that is prescribed for an airplane that is preparing
       to land at an airport; "the traffic patterns around O'Hare
       are very crowded"; "they stayed in the pattern until the fog
       lifted" [syn: traffic pattern, approach pattern,
       pattern]
    8: graphical representation (in polar or Cartesian coordinates)
       of the spatial distribution of radiation from an antenna as a
       function of angle [syn: radiation pattern, radiation
       diagram, pattern]
    v 1: plan or create according to a model or models [syn:
         model, pattern]
    2: form a pattern; "These sentences pattern like the ones we
       studied before"

Pattern \Pat"tern\, n. [OE. patron, F. patron, a patron, also, a
   pattern. See Patron.]
   1. Anything proposed for imitation; an archetype; an
      exemplar; that which is to be, or is worthy to be, copied
      or imitated; as, a pattern of a machine.
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            I will be the pattern of all patience. --Shak.
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   2. A part showing the figure or quality of the whole; a
      specimen; a sample; an example; an instance.
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            He compares the pattern with the whole piece.
                                                  --Swift.
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   3. Stuff sufficient for a garment; as, a dress pattern.
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   4. Figure or style of decoration; design; as, wall paper of a
      beautiful pattern.
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   5. Something made after a model; a copy. --Shak.
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            The patterns of things in the heavens. --Heb. ix.
                                                  23.
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   6. Anything cut or formed to serve as a guide to cutting or
      forming objects; as, a dressmaker's pattern.
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   7. (Founding) A full-sized model around which a mold of sand
      is made, to receive the melted metal. It is usually made
      of wood and in several parts, so as to be removed from the
      mold without injuring it.
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   8. a recognizable characteristic relationship or set of
      relationships between the members of any set of objects or
      actions, or the properties of the members; also, the set
      having a definable relationship between its members.
      [PJC]

   Note: Various collections of objects or markings are spoken
         of as a pattern. Thus: the distribution of bomb or
         shell impacts on a target area, or of bullet holes in a
         target; a set of traits or actions that appear to be
         consistent throughout the members of a group or over
         time within a group, as behavioral pattern, traffic
         pattern, dress pattern; the wave pattern for a spoken
         word; the pattern of intensities in a spectrum; a
         grammatical pattern.
         [PJC]

   9. (Gun.) A diagram showing the distribution of the pellets
      of a shotgun on a vertical target perpendicular to the
      plane of fire.
      [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

   10. the recommended flight path for an airplane to follow as
       it approaches an airport for a landing. Same as landing
       pattern.
       [PJC]

   11. an image or diagram containing lines, usually horizontal,
       vertical, and diagonal, sometimes of varying widths, used
       to test the resolution of an optical instrument or the
       accuracy of reproduction of image copying or transmission
       equipment. Same as test pattern.
       [PJC]

   pattern box, pattern chain, or pattern cylinder (Figure
      Weaving), devices, in a loom, for presenting several
      shuttles to the picker in the proper succession for
      forming the figure.

   Pattern card.
       (a) A set of samples on a card.
       (b) (Weaving) One of the perforated cards in a Jacquard
           apparatus.

   Pattern reader, one who arranges textile patterns.

   Pattern wheel (Horology), a count-wheel.
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Pattern \Pat"tern\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Patterned; p. pr. &
   vb. n. Patterning.]
   1. To make or design (anything) by, from, or after, something
      that serves as a pattern; to copy; to model; to imitate.
      --Milton.
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            [A temple] patterned from that which Adam reared in
            Paradise.                             --Sir T.
                                                  Herbert.
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   2. To serve as an example for; also, to parallel.
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   To pattern after, to imitate; to follow.
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