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idolum

British  
/ ɪˈdəʊlʊm /

noun

  1. a mental picture; idea

  2. 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.

In Isiacis sacris de pinea arbore caeditur truncus; hujus trunci media pars subtiliter excavatur, illis de segminibus factum idolum Osiridis sepelitur.

From Pagan and Christian creeds: their origin and meaning by Carpenter, Edward

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

Tunc ambo vadunt ad idolum aureum, vel argenteum, facientes orationes in hac forma.

From The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation — Volume 09 Asia, Part II by Hakluyt, Richard

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