- type (n.)
- late 15c., "symbol, emblem," from Latin typus "figure, image, form, kind," from Greek typos "dent, impression, mark, figure, original form," from root of typtein "to strike, beat," from PIE root *(s)teu- "to strike, cut, hew" (see steep (adj.)). Extended 1713 to printing blocks with letters carved on them. The meaning "general form or character of some kind, class" is first in English 1843, though it had that sense in Latin and Greek. To be someone's type "be the sort of person that person is attracted to" is recorded from 1934.
- type (v.)
- "to write with a typewriter," 1888; see type (n.). Related: Typed; typing.