Definitions

1. noun

A type or design of type, especially in printing, before the introduction of movable type.

“The invention of movable type revolutionized the production of printed materials and made obsolete the use of individual foretypes.”

2. noun

A model or exemplar of a particular type, especially in the context of literary or artistic works.

“The novelist drew inspiration from her favorite foretype, the works of the Brontë sisters.”