image

[ im-ij ]
See synonyms for: imageimagedimagesimaging on Thesaurus.com
noun

  1. a physical likeness or representation of a person, animal, or thing, photographed, painted, sculptured, or otherwise made visible.

  2. an optical counterpart or appearance of an object, as is produced by reflection from a mirror, refraction by a lens, or the passage of luminous rays through a small aperture and their reception on a surface.

  1. a mental representation; idea; conception.

  2. Psychology. a mental representation of something previously perceived, in the absence of the original stimulus.

  3. form; appearance; semblance: We are all created in God's image.

  4. counterpart; copy: That child is the image of his mother.

  5. a symbol; emblem.

  6. the general or public perception of a company, public figure, etc., especially as achieved by careful calculation aimed at creating widespread goodwill.

  7. a type; embodiment: Red-faced and angry, he was the image of frustration.

  8. a description of something in speech or writing: Keats created some of the most beautiful images in the language.

  9. Rhetoric. a figure of speech, especially a metaphor or a simile.

  10. an idol or representation of a deity: They knelt down before graven images.

  11. Mathematics. the point or set of points in the range corresponding to a designated point in the domain of a given function.

  12. Archaic. an illusion or apparition.

verb (used with object),im·aged, im·ag·ing.

  1. to picture or represent in the mind; imagine; conceive.

  2. to make an image of; portray in sculpture, painting, etc.

  1. to project (photographs, film, etc.) on a surface: Familiar scenes were imaged on the screen.

  2. to reflect the likeness of; mirror.

  3. to set forth in speech or writing; describe.

  4. to symbolize; typify.

  5. to resemble.

  6. Informal. to create an image for (a company, public figure, etc.): The candidate had to be imaged before being put on the campaign trail.

  7. to transform (data) into an exact replica in a different form, as changing digital data to pixels for display on a screen or representing a medical scan of a body part in digital form.

Origin of image

1
First recorded in 1175–1225; (noun) Middle English from Old French image, imagene (-ene apparently construed as suffix) from Latin imāgin-, stem of imāgō “a copy, likeness,” equivalent to im- (cf. imitate) + -āgō noun suffix; (verb) Middle English: “to form a mental picture” from Old French imagier, derivative of image

synonym study For image

1, 12. Image, icon, idol refer to material representations of persons or things. An image is a representation as in a statue or effigy, and is sometimes regarded as an object of worship: to set up an image of Apollo; an image of a saint. An icon, in the Greek or Eastern Orthodox Church, is a representation of Christ, an angel, or a saint, in painting, relief, mosaic, or the like: At least two icons are found in each church. An idol is an image, statue, or the like representing a deity and worshiped as such: a wooden idol; The heathen worship idols. It may be used figuratively: to make an idol of wealth.

Other words for image

Opposites for image

Other words from image

  • im·age·a·ble, adjective
  • im·ag·er, noun
  • pre·im·age, noun
  • re·im·age, verb (used with object), re·im·aged, re·im·ag·ing.
  • un·im·aged, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use image in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for image

image

/ (ˈɪmɪdʒ) /

noun

  1. a representation or likeness of a person or thing, esp in sculpture

  2. an optically formed reproduction of an object, such as one formed by a lens or mirror

  1. a person or thing that resembles another closely; double or copy

  2. a mental representation or picture; idea produced by the imagination

  3. the personality presented to the public by a person, organization, etc: a criminal charge is not good for a politician's image See also corporate image

  4. the pattern of light that is focused on to the retina of the eye

  5. psychol the mental experience of something that is not immediately present to the senses, often involving memory: See also imagery, body image, hypnagogic image

  6. a personification of a specified quality; epitome: the image of good breeding

  7. a mental picture or association of ideas evoked in a literary work, esp in poetry

  8. a figure of speech, such as a simile or metaphor

  9. maths

    • (of a point) the value of a function, f(x), corresponding to the point x

    • the range of a function

  10. an obsolete word for apparition

verb(tr)

  1. to picture in the mind; imagine

  2. to make or reflect an image of

  1. computing to project or display on a screen or visual display unit

  2. to portray or describe

  3. to be an example or epitome of; typify

Origin of image

1
C13: from Old French imagene, from Latin imāgō copy, representation; related to Latin imitārī to imitate

Derived forms of image

  • imageable, adjective
  • imageless, adjective

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

Other Idioms and Phrases with image

image

see spitting image.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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