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imaginative

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Etymology and origin of the English word imaginative

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1398 before 1398, Trevisa's translation of Bartholomaeus Anglicus
Borrowed from
Middle French imaginatif via Middle English
Ultimate origin
Latin imāginor

Pronunciation

  • /ɪˈmæd͡ʒɪnətɪv/, /-ənətɪv/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English imaginatif,[2][3] borrowed from Middle French imaginatif,[4][5][2][6] and directly borrowed from Medieval Latin imāginātīvus,[4][2][3][7] from imāginātus, the past participle of imāginor (“to picture to oneself”),[6][2] and the suffix -īvus.[4][3] In Old French the adjective is recorded from about 1298, meaning having a strong imagination.[4] It is related to imagine and imagination.[2][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of or relating to the imagination as a faculty of the mind: before 1398, in Trevisa's translation of Bartholomaeus Anglicus.[4] Etymonline dates it to the late 14th century, with the senses "forming images, given to imagining".[2]

Semantic evolution

From about 1405, in Chaucer's Franklin's Tale, the word described a person given to using the imagination;[4] an older sense of this, full of thoughts, plans or devices, is obsolete.[4] From 1517 it also meant existing only in the imagination, unreal, a sense now rare and taken over by imaginary.[4] Johnson (1755) defined it as "fantastick; full of imagination".[8] The modern sense, showing a high degree of imagination, is recorded from 1829, in Scott.[4][2] As a noun, the faculty of imagination, imaginative was used from before 1398 to 1641;[4] in Piers Plowman (about 1378) a personification of imagination is called Ymagynatyf.[4] Chapman used imaginous about 1600 for "full of fancies".[2]

Timeline

  • before 1398 – relating to the imagination; also a noun, the faculty of imagination (obsolete by 1641).[4]
  • c. 1405 – of a person, given to imagining, in Chaucer.[4]
  • 1517 – existing only in the imagination, unreal (now rare).[4]
  • 1532 – imaginable (obsolete).[4]
  • 1829 – resulting from or showing imagination.[4][2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Having or using a lively, creative imagination: an imaginative young designer.[9][4]
  2. Made or shown with imagination; original and inventive: an imaginative solution to the parking problem.[9][5][4]
  3. Of or relating to the imagination.[5][4]
  4. Drawn from the imagination rather than from known facts.[5]
  5. Able to deal with new or difficult problems; resourceful.[5]

Word family

  • imaginatively
  • imaginativeness
  • overimaginative
  • unimaginative

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  7. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  9. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Imaginative.” Etymologically, 31 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/imaginative. Accessed 31 Oct. 2026.

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