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imagination

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Etymology and origin of the French word imagination

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1175, Benoît de Sainte-Maure, Chronique des ducs de Normandie
Borrowed from
Latin imaginatio
Ultimate origin
Latin imāgō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin imaginatio
French imagination

Pronunciation

  • /i.ma.ʒi.na.sjɔ̃/[1]

Forms

imagination f (plural imaginations)[1] Old and Middle French imaginacion, ymaginacion.[1][2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin imāginātiō (“image, vision”), a word of the imperial period, formed on imāginātus, the past participle of imāginor (“to picture to oneself”).[4][5][6] The verb is derived from imāgō (“image”), which gave image.[7]

Cognate with Old Occitan imaginatio, Spanish imaginación and Italian immaginazione.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Benoît de Sainte-Maure's Chronique des ducs de Normandie (about 1175) it is an image seen in a dream.[4][5] The Grand Robert and the GLLF date it about 1160, also with the sense of a dream image or hallucination.[5][6]

Semantic evolution

In the Roman de la Rose (1269–78) it is the faculty of forming images, and in the 14th century the faculty of devising combinations, as of a clockmaker.[4] Oresme (about 1370) uses it for what the mind conceives, in perverses ymaginacions “perverse notions”, and for the supposing of something in order to reason about it.[4][6] Chastellain (about 1460) uses it for the vision of something unreal.[6]

The faculty of calling up images of what has been perceived before is found in Montaigne.[4][6] The Petit Robert distinguishes this imagination reproductrice, now dated, from the creative imagination, the usual modern sense.[7] Littré records homme d'imagination and the literary sense of a power of invention joined to the talent of conveying it vividly.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 1175 – Imaginacion, a dream image, in Benoît de Sainte-Maure.[4]
  • 1269–78 – The faculty of forming images, in the Roman de la Rose.[4]
  • 14th century – The faculty of devising combinations.[4]
  • c. 1370 – Oresme uses it for a conception of the mind.[4]
  • c. 1460 – Chastellain uses it for a vision of something unreal.[6]
  • 1580 – Montaigne uses it for recalling images of things perceived.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The faculty of the mind of forming images: frapper l'imagination.[7][4]
  2. (dated) The faculty of recalling images of things perceived before: revoir en imagination la maison de son enfance.[7][3]
  3. The creative faculty of forming images of things never perceived and new combinations of ideas: l'imagination créatrice.[7][3]
  4. Inventiveness, fancy: avoir de l'imagination.[7][3]
  5. A thing imagined, especially an unfounded idea: ce ne sont que des imaginations.[7][3]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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
  5. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Imagination.” Etymologically, 22 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/imagination. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

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