"metatype" meaning in English

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  "etymology_text": "From meta- + type.",
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    {
      "form": "metatypes",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
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      "expansion": "metatype (plural metatypes)",
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Biology",
          "orig": "en:Biology",
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            "Fundamental"
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          "_dis": "61 39",
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      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A topotype of a species which is confirmed as belonging to that species by the author who originally described it"
      ],
      "id": "en-metatype-en-noun-ydj5qNNr",
      "links": [
        [
          "biology",
          "biology"
        ],
        [
          "topotype",
          "topotype"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(biology) A topotype of a species which is confirmed as belonging to that species by the author who originally described it"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "biology",
        "natural-sciences"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Programming",
          "orig": "en:Programming",
          "parents": [
            "Computing",
            "Software engineering",
            "Technology",
            "Computer science",
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            "Software",
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            "Sciences",
            "Applied sciences",
            "Media",
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            "Communication"
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          "parents": [],
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      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Coordinate term: metaclass"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2015, Adam Freeman, Pro Design Patterns in Swift, Apress, →ISBN, page 199:",
          "text": "The Type suffix specifies that this variable will be a metatype and not an object (meaning the implementation class and not an instance of it).",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2019, Matt Neuburg, iOS 13 Programming Fundamentals with Swift […] , O'Reilly Media, →ISBN, page 186:",
          "text": "You can use a variable reference to a type (a metatype) to instantiate that type, but you can't just append parentheses to a variable reference: […]",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The type of a type."
      ],
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        [
          "programming",
          "programming#Noun"
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          "type",
          "type"
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      "raw_glosses": [
        "(programming) The type of a type."
      ],
      "topics": [
        "computing",
        "engineering",
        "mathematics",
        "natural-sciences",
        "physical-sciences",
        "programming",
        "sciences"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "metatype"
}

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  ],
  "etymology_text": "From meta- + type.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "metatypes",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
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        "A topotype of a species which is confirmed as belonging to that species by the author who originally described it"
      ],
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        "(biology) A topotype of a species which is confirmed as belonging to that species by the author who originally described it"
      ],
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        "biology",
        "natural-sciences"
      ]
    },
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        {
          "text": "Coordinate term: metaclass"
        },
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          "ref": "2015, Adam Freeman, Pro Design Patterns in Swift, Apress, →ISBN, page 199:",
          "text": "The Type suffix specifies that this variable will be a metatype and not an object (meaning the implementation class and not an instance of it).",
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        },
        {
          "ref": "2019, Matt Neuburg, iOS 13 Programming Fundamentals with Swift […] , O'Reilly Media, →ISBN, page 186:",
          "text": "You can use a variable reference to a type (a metatype) to instantiate that type, but you can't just append parentheses to a variable reference: […]",
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      ],
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        "The type of a type."
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        "(programming) The type of a type."
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  "word": "metatype"
}