A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process or to act as a thing to be replicated or learned from.^[1] It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and software programming. A prototype is generally used to evaluate a new design to enhance precision by system analysts and users.^[2] Prototyping serves to provide specifications for a real, working system rather than a theoretical one.^[3] In some design workflow models, creating a prototype (a process sometimes called materialization) is the step between the formalization and the evaluation of an idea.^[4]

The word prototype derives from the Greek πρωτότυπον prototypon, "primitive form", neutral of πρωτότυπος prototypos, "original, primitive", from πρῶτος protos, "first" and τύπος typos, "impression".^[1][5]