imago

[ih-mey-goh, ih-mah-]

noun

plural

imagoes, imagines 

1. Entomology.,  an adult insect.

2. Psychoanalysis.,  an idealized concept of a loved one, formed in childhood and retained unaltered in adult life.

imago

/ ɪˈmeɪɡəʊ /

noun

1. an adult sexually mature insect produced after metamorphosis

2. psychoanal an idealized image of another person, usually a parent, acquired in childhood and carried in the unconscious in later life

imago

plural

imagoes 

1. An insect in its sexually mature adult stage after metamorphosis.

2. Compare larva nymph pupa

Word History and Origins

Origin of imago¹

1790–1800; < New Latin, Latin imāgō; image

Word History and Origins

Origin of imago¹

C18: New Latin, from Latin: likeness; see _image

Example Sentences

He imagines a design that could be delivered through a small tube, making the treatment easier and more practical in clinical settings.

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She imagines a household system that uses a fast-absorbing material paired with an ultrasonic actuator, each roughly the size of a window.

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Reformation imagines a world where homemaking is sequins and satin.

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On the smoky, slow-burn number “Hide,” she imagines a relationship falling apart so slowly that the participants barely know it’s happening.

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Rather, it imagines that plying the audience with mythical rivers of liberal tears is enough and confirms the assumption that there are no funny conservative comedians, which simply isn’t true.

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