imago
Americannoun
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imagoes,
plural
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imagines
plural
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Entomology. an adult insect.
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Psychoanalysis. an idealized concept of a loved one, formed in childhood and retained unaltered in adult life.
noun
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an adult sexually mature insect produced after metamorphosis
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psychoanal an idealized image of another person, usually a parent, acquired in childhood and carried in the unconscious in later life
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of imago
1790–1800; < New Latin, Latin imāgō; see image
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.
See Examples For:
We are the imago Dei; we are made in the image of God.
From Washington Times ● Jun. 11, 2023
In the Butterfly Garden, I read about metamorphosis, from egg to imago.
From New York Times ● Dec. 2, 2019
It explores various interpretations of the Eucharist, human origins and the concept of imago Dei.
From New York Times ● Oct. 13, 2016
In fact, most versions of the tradition considered the two bodies equally authentic: the effigy or imago was looked on as an emanation of the once-living body rather than its representation.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 23, 2010
It’s hard for me to imagine myself as a grown-up, one of those imago things.
From "Blended" by Sharon M. Draper
The figure helps introduce the exhibition’s exploration of humanity’s relationship to nature; Albuquerque imagines the character as the maker of her landscape projects and considers her an alter ego.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026
But one imagines that, somewhere between the second and third hundred, a person would pause to ask, “You sure you want 260 nuggets, hon?”
From Salon ● Oct. 11, 2026
He imagines Meta has been working on the camera-free glasses for several years, and the current backlash over privacy provides "fantastic timing" for their release.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
“Hands Upon the Wheel” imagines stealing her daddy’s car and taking off down the road—but this is not Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
Besides the bats and the dripping water, she imagines things on the ground, ready to spring at her ankles.
From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti
After bugs go through metamorphosis, they are called imagoes.
From "Blended" by Sharon M. Draper
In the case of the leaf-miners and leaf-tiers, little difficulty is experienced in rearing the imagoes.
From Directions for Collecting and Preserving Insects by C. V. Riley
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
