Meaning

noun a subdivision of a particular kind of thing

noun a person of a specified kind (usually with many eccentricities)

noun (biology) the taxonomic group whose characteristics are used to define the next higher taxon

originFrom Middle English type (“symbol, figure, emblem”), from Latin typus, from Ancient Greek τύπος (túpos, “mark, impression, type”), from τύπτω (túptō, “to strike, beat”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0