Exact historical dictionary sense
Pattern in Webster's 1913 dictionary
The 1913 record labels pattern as noun. Its source-bounded etymology and selected historical definition appear below.
[OE. patron, F. patron, a patron, also, a pattern. See Patron.]
Cross-verified historical senseIn Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), "pattern" is labeled noun. Its etymology is recorded as: "[OE. patron, F. patron, a patron, also, a pattern. See Patron.]" The selected historical definition says: "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."