that which answers to a type or figure. The corresponding Greek word,
ἀντίτυπος , occurs twice in the New Testament (Hebrews 9:24; 1 Peter 3:21), where it is rendered "figure" (q.v.). A type, in its primary and literal meaning, simply denotes a rough draught, or less accurate model, from which a more perfect image is made; but in the sacred and theological sense of the term, a type may be defined to be a symbol of something future and distant, or an example prepared and evidently designed by God to prefigure that future thing. What is thus prefigured is called the antitype. (See TYPE).