Etymologically
Log in

image

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 18 October 2026 at 14:02. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /i.maʒ/[1]

Forms

image f (plural images)[1] Old French imagene, imagine (about 1050), remade as image about 1160; also ymage.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin imāgō (“likeness, portrait; image of the dead; copy; comparison”), from the accusative “imāginem”.[5][2][3][6][7] Rey and the Petit Robert relate it to a root “im-” of obscure origin, also in imitor (“to imitate”) (compare imiter).[2][8] Littré notes that, had it been inherited, it would have had another form.[9]

Cognate with Romanian imagine, Italian immagine, Occitan imatge, Spanish imagen and Portuguese imagem.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first sense, in the Life of Saint Alexis (about 1050), is a statue; the Chanson de Roland has une imagene Apolin, an idol of Apollo.[5][2][9]

Semantic evolution

In the 12th century it meant a vision in a dream (Eneas, about 1160) and any pictorial representation (Chrétien de Troyes, 1176), whence sage comme une image (Sévigné, 1674) and image d'Épinal (1873).[5][2][10] À l'image de “in the likeness of” is in the Jeu d'Adam (about 1180), and Marie de France (1180) has the reflection in a polished surface.[5][2]

Brunetto Latini (about 1265) used it as a figure of speech, an analogy (par ymage u par comparison), and, from 1550 it meant the visible symbol of something abstract.[5][2] From Descartes (1647) it became a key word of psychology, a mental representation, at first used interchangeably with idée.[5][2] Photography (images daguerriennes, 1843), film and television extended it to every kind of reproduced picture, and to the public image of a person or brand (image de marque).[5][1]

Timeline

  • c. 1050 – Imagine “statue”, Life of Saint Alexis.[5]
  • c. 1160 – A vision in a dream, Eneas.[5]
  • 1176 – A picture, Chrétien de Troyes.[5]
  • 1180 – A reflection, Marie de France.[5]
  • c. 1265 – A figure of speech, Brunetto Latini.[5]
  • 1647 – A mental image, Descartes.[5]
  • 1674 – Sage comme une image, Madame de Sévigné.[10]
  • 1843 – A photographic image.[5]
  • 1873 – Image d'Épinal.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A picture, illustration, print: un livre d'images, image d'Épinal, a naive, idealized picture.[1][4]
  2. A reflection: voir son image dans une glace.[8][2]
  3. (optics, photography, television) An image; a frame: arrêt sur image.[8][1]
  4. A mental picture, representation: l'image qu'il garde de son père.[1][5]
  5. A likeness: à l'image de, c'est l'image de son père.[9][5]
  6. A figure of speech, metaphor: un style plein d'images.[5][2]
  7. Public image: image de marque.[1]
  8. Sage comme une image: as good as gold.[10][1]

Word family

  • imager
  • imagerie
  • imagier

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  4. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 564b
  8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  10. ^ a b c Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF