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eidetic

[ahy-det-ik]
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adjective
  1. of, relating to, or constituting visual imagery vividly experienced and readily reproducible with great accuracy and in great detail.
  2. of or relating to eidos.
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Origin of eidetic

1920–25; < Greek eidētikós, equivalent to eîd(os) eidos + -ētikos -etic
Related formsnon·ei·det·ic, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for eidetic

Historical Examples

  • The Past Police were noted for their impersonations, and most of them had eidetic memories.

    A Knyght Ther Was

    Robert F. Young

  • We know that they have eidetic memories, and that they can reason on an extremely high level.

    Assassin

    Jesse Franklin Bone

  • His eidetic memory went to work, conjuring an image of a large-scale map he had once studied.

    The Sensitive Man

    Poul William Anderson

British Dictionary definitions for eidetic

eidetic

adjective psychol
  1. (of visual, or sometimes auditory, images) exceptionally vivid and allowing detailed recall of something previously perceived: thought to be common in children
  2. relating to or subject to such imagery
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Derived Formseidetically, adverb

Word Origin

C20: from Greek eidētikos, from eidos shape, form
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

Word Origin and History for eidetic

adj.

"pertaining to the faculty of projecting images," 1924, from German eidetisch, coined by German psychologist Erich Jaensch (1883-1940), from Greek eidetikos "pertaining to images," also "pertaining to knowledge," from eidesis "knowledge," from eidos "form, shape" (see -oid).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper