Model

A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the <a href="/facts/Plan_(drawing)/NglYwyRs">plans</a> of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via <a href="/facts/French_language/qe1DnaQh">French</a> and <a href="/facts/Italian_language/YXsmvlQG">Italian</a> ultimately from <a href="/facts/Latin/pM3Kge85">Latin</a> modulus, 'a measure'.
Models can be divided into physical models (e.g. a <a href="/facts/Ship_model/DGVCbD4e">ship model</a> or a fashion model) and abstract models (e.g. a <a href="/facts/Numerical_weather_prediction/TXdbEfE4">set of mathematical equations</a> describing the workings of the atmosphere for the purpose of weather forecasting). Abstract or <a href="/facts/Conceptual_model/hgysE2kP">conceptual models</a> are central to <a href="/facts/Philosophy_of_science/aonsfhTY">philosophy of science</a>.
In <a href="/facts/Scholarly_research/W4eDafUn">scholarly research</a> and <a href="/facts/Applied_science/13h5uYCH">applied science</a>, a model should not be confused with a <a href="/facts/Theory/9vrNS1Rr">theory</a>: while a model seeks only to represent reality with the purpose of better understanding or predicting the world, a theory is more ambitious in that it claims to be an explanation of reality.

Model open-in-new

Model