An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics
English-French-Persian

1) General: A typical example of something.
2) Grammar: A set of word forms giving all of the possible inflections (declensions, conjugations) of a word.
3) Philosophy of science: A framework of concepts, results, and procedures within which subsequent work is carried out, as defined by the influential Thomas Kuhn (1922-1996) in his classic The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962). "Normal science" proceeds within such a framework or paradigm. When a paradigm has to be changed (→ paradigm shift), there comes about a crisis and then scientific revolution. For example, Newton's mechanical paradigm was replaced by the paradigm of Einstein's relativistic universe. Each paradigm is an interpretation of the world, rather than an objective explanation. For criticism of Kuhn's views, see, e.g., Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
4) Term now occurring frequently in every kind of discourse, usually to mean something like "way of thinking" or "approach to a problem."

L.L. paradigma "pattern, example," especially in grammar, from Gk. paradeigma "pattern, model," from paradeiknynai "to exhibit, show side by side," from → para- "beside" + deiknynai "to show," related to dokein "to appear, seem, think," cognate with Av. daēs- "to show" (Mod.Pers. andišé, andiš "thought, think," see below); Skt. diś- "to show, point out," diśati "he shows;" L. dicere "to utter;" PIE base *deik- "to show, to pronounce."

Parâdiš, pârâdiš, from parâ-, pârâ, → para- + diš "to show," as in andiš, andišidan "to → think" (related to dis, disé, → form); Sogd. andiš "to seem," andêš "to show," andêšik "appearing;" ultimately from Av. daēs- "to show," s-aorist forms dāiš-, dôiš-, diš-, akin to Gk. deiknynai "to show," as above, dike "manner, custom;" Skt. diś- "to show, point out;" L. dicere "to utter, say;" O.H.G. zeigon, Ger. zeigen "to show;" O.E. teon "to accuse," tæcan "to teach."

1) Philosophy of science: A process of revolutionary change in scientific → paradigms, whereby established scientific ideas are replaced by new ones. For instance, Copernicus' evidence that the Earth revolved around the Sun caused a paradigm shift in astronomy.
2) The idea of paradigm shift has been transferred from the sciences to other areas of society and culture, referring to a fundamental reorganization of how people think about an entire topic.

→ paradigm; → shift; → change.