late 14c., “original model of the universe in the mind of God,” later (mid-15c.) “model of virtue,” from Old French exemplaire (14c.) and directly from Late Latin exemplarium, from Latin exemplum “a copy, pattern, model”
“Examples” can be good or bad. “Exemplars” should be the best examples. However, even the best exemplar is still just an example, a guide to assist us in the analysis of a given script. As Jaki Svaren says in her book Written Letters, “It would indeed be a mistake to work from this little book believing the examples in any way adequate to replace the historical models.”