eidolon

[ ahy-doh-luhn ]
See synonyms for eidolon on Thesaurus.com
noun,plural ei·do·la [ahy-doh-luh], /aɪˈdoʊ lə/, ei·do·lons.
  1. a phantom; apparition.

  2. an ideal.

Origin of eidolon

1
First recorded in 1820–30; see origin at idol

Words Nearby eidolon

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use eidolon in a sentence

  • In the background of all we fancy a hideous eidolon, from whose side even the damned recoil in loathing.

    Guy Livingstone; | George A. Lawrence
  • Whichever way she turned the eidolon of Caroline met her as a bar to all further progress in her design upon the Intendant.

    The Golden Dog | William Kirby
  • I could thus see myself, gazing through my dream eyes on my eidolon, as if it were only a reflection in a mirror.

    She and I, Volume 2 | John Conroy Hutcheson
  • The Homeric solution is to divide the man, or to double him, into his shade (eidolon) and his self.

    Homer's Odyssey | Denton J. Snider
  • But if any one likes let us leave him a mere eidolon, an earlier "Great Unknown."

British Dictionary definitions for eidolon

eidolon

/ (aɪˈdəʊlɒn) /


nounplural -la (-lə) or -lons
  1. an unsubstantial image; apparition; phantom

  2. an ideal or idealized figure

Origin of eidolon

1
C19: from Greek: phantom, idol

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012