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imaginatio

Etymology and origin of the Latin word imaginatio

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Pliny the Elder
Ultimate origin
Latin (imāgō)

Forms

imāginātiō f (genitive imāginātiōnis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from imāginor “to picture”, from imāgō “image”, with the suffix -tiō.[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's and Lewis and Short's earliest citation is from Pliny the Elder, of fancies in sleep.[2][4] Köbler dates Pliny 23/24–79 AD.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant picturing in the mind, fantasy, imagining, a mental image, as in Pliny the Elder and Tacitus' Nero dreaming of Egypt.[2][4][6] Lewis and Short call it post-Augustan.[4]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant imagination, a mental image.[7] Medieval Latin used it for an image, a statue, a reflection in a mirror, and the setting of a seal.[8] British Medieval Latin distinguished imagination from reason.[9] It was borrowed into French imagination and Italian immaginazione, and Old French gave English imagination in the mid-14th century.[1][3]

Timeline

  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of fancies in sleep.[2][5]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it of Nero's imaginings.[6][5]
  • mid-14th century – English imagination is recorded.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Imagination, fantasy; a mental image.[2]
  2. (Medieval Latin) An image, statue; a reflection.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  9. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
Cite this entry

“Imaginatio.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/imaginatio. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

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