idolum

British

/ ɪˈdəʊlʊm /

noun

a mental picture; idea
a false idea, fallacy

"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

Etymology

Origin of idolum

C17: from Latin: _idol

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Such a group of ideas is what Bacon would have called a scientific fetich or idolum theatri.

From Hegel's Philosophy of Mind by Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich

When does it become an idolum specus, the unreasonable pertinacity of a too sceptical mind?

From Critical and Historical Essays — Volume 2 by Macaulay, Thomas Babington Macaulay, Baron

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023