idealism

Etymology

It is formed from English ideal + -ism,^[2][3][4] partly from the adjective and partly from the noun,^[2] in early use partly after French idéalisme, recorded in philosophy in 1749, and in later philosophical uses after German Idealismus, used by Kant by 1781 and itself from French.^[2] Etymonline likewise thinks it was probably modelled on the French word.^[3] The Shorter Oxford and the Oxford Dictionary of English take it instead as a borrowing of idéalisme or Idealismus,^[5][6] and Merriam-Webster derives the German word from the French, which is formed from idéal and -isme.^[7][8] The base adjective goes back to Late Latin ideālis (“existing in idea”), from idea in its Platonic sense.^[3][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

In philosophy, any view by which reality is ultimately mental or dependent on the mind: before 1743, in A. M. Ramsay's Philosophical Principles of Natural and Revealed Religion.^[2][7] Etymonline dates this sense to 1796.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The word began as a philosophical term, which, Etymonline notes, German philosophers refined into the absolute idealism of Hegel, the subjective of Fichte, the objective of Schelling and the transcendental of Kant.^[3] From 1774 it was used for the practice of idealizing, representing things as they might be rather than as they are, especially in art and literature,^[2][10] a sense Etymonline dates to 1829;^[3] French had it from 1828.^[2] From before 1822, in Shelley, it could also mean an ideal representation itself.^[2] The everyday sense, the pursuit of high ideals, followed German Idealismus (1796) and French idéalisme (1863),^[2] and the Shorter Oxford dates the forming or pursuing of ideals to the early 19th century.^[5] Collins and Dictionary.com now list this sense first.^[11][4]

Timeline

• before 1743 – a philosophical view that reality is mental.^[2][7] Etymonline dates it to 1796.^[3]
• 1774 – the tendency to idealize; the representation of things in an ideal form.^[2][10] Etymonline dates this sense to 1829.^[3]
• before 1822 – an ideal representation, in Shelley.^[2]
• early 19th century – the forming or pursuit of ideals.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The pursuit of high or noble ideals, often without regard to practical ends: Her youthful idealism survived twenty years in politics.^[11][9][4]
2. The tendency to see or picture things in an ideal form rather than as they are.^[11][9][2]
3. In art and literature, treatment of a subject that stresses an imagined beauty or perfection rather than realism.^[9][4][2]
4. (philosophy) Any theory holding that reality, or the object of perception, consists of ideas or depends on the mind; opposed to materialism.^{[11][7][2][9]}
5. Something idealized; an ideal representation.^[4][2][5]

Word family

• overidealism

Related words

• idealist
• idealistic
• idea
• ideal

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
9. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
10. ^ a b Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
11. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins