imagine
- to form a mental image of (something not actually present to the senses).
- to think, believe, or fancy: He imagined the house was haunted.
- to assume; suppose: I imagine they'll be here soon.
- to conjecture; guess: I cannot imagine what you mean.
- Archaic. to plan, scheme, or plot.
- to form mental images of things not present to the senses; use the imagination.
- to suppose; think; conjecture.
Origin of imagine
Synonyms for imagine
imago
- Entomology. an adult insect.
- Psychoanalysis. an idealized concept of a loved one, formed in childhood and retained unaltered in adult life.
Origin of imago
Related Words for imagines
envision, figure, devise, frame, fancy, fantasy, envisage, visualize, create, feature, scheme, image, picture, form, perceive, depict, fantasize, plan, spark, realizeExamples from the Web for imagines
Contemporary Examples of imagines
A new book from Mallory Ortberg imagines what literary legends including King Lear and Jane Eyre would have texted.
He also imagines her dancing a sexually aggressive spotlit dance.
Most bravely perhaps, Maka, 45, imagines some comedic moments.
The Surprisingly Good Flight 370 Novel: Author Scott Maka Defends His Controversial BookTim Teeman
June 14, 2014
In those anonymous italics again, Kibbe imagines unnamed folks saying, “Check this out: This senator is speaking truth to power.”
For a moment, Tiffany imagines her two friends doing something slightly wicked, like joy-riding around Syracuse.
The Stacks: The Searing Story of How Murder Stalked a Tiny New York TownE. Jean Carroll
April 19, 2014
Historical Examples of imagines
Some faces show more plainly in the moonlight, or one imagines so.
Quaint CourtshipsVarious
He sees the hearth in the middle and imagines the fire blazing there.
Buried Cities: Pompeii, Olympia, MycenaeJennie Hall
Nobody, even in revolutionary France, imagines that it will work.
The American MindBliss Perry
He imagines that the thought had proceeded out of his own heart.
BunyanJames Anthony Froude
In her delirium she imagines herself to be queen of the world.
The Sexual QuestionAugust Forel
imagine
- (when tr, may take a clause as object) to form a mental image of
- (when tr, may take a clause as object) to think, believe, or guess
- (tr; takes a clause as object) to suppose; assumeI imagine he'll come
- (tr; takes a clause as object) to believe or assume without foundationhe imagines he knows the whole story
- an archaic word for plot 1
- Also: imagine that! an exclamation of surprise
Word Origin for imagine
imago
- an adult sexually mature insect produced after metamorphosis
- psychoanal an idealized image of another person, usually a parent, acquired in childhood and carried in the unconscious in later life
Word Origin for imago
Word Origin and History for imagines
imagine
mid-14c., "to form a mental image of," from Old French imaginer "sculpt, carve, paint; decorate, embellish" (13c.), from Latin imaginari "to form a mental picture to oneself, imagine" (also, in Late Latin imaginare "to form an image of, represent"), from imago (see image). Sense of "suppose" is first recorded late 14c. Related: Imagined; imagining.
imago
1797, from Latin imago "image" (see image).
imago
(ĭ-mā′gō, ĭ-mä′-)- An insect in its sexually mature adult stage after metamorphosis.
- An often idealized image of a person, usually a parent, formed in childhood and persisting unconsciously into adulthood.
- archetype
imago
- An insect in its sexually mature adult stage after metamorphosis. Compare larva nymph pupa.