image English · revision 2674

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1200|origins=la imāgō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈɪm.ɪdʒ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|image]], ymage,^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) [[bor|fro|image|t=image, likeness; figure, portrait; reflection; statue]], earlier imagene,^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from [[la|imāgō|t=copy, likeness, statue, picture; phantom; idea, appearance]], genitive imāginis,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) related to [[m|la|imitārī|t=to copy]], the source of [[imitate]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(Cresswell 2021) Etymonline takes it to [[ine-pro|*aim-|t=to copy]].^(Etymonline) The verb is partly from Old French imagier and partly from the noun.^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A statue or effigy, an artificial likeness of a person or thing: probably about 1200,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) before 1225 in the OED.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Senses already present in Latin came into English gradually.^(Barnhart 1988) A reflection in a mirror is from the early 14th century,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and a mental picture or idea from about 1380, in Chaucer's translation of Boethius.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) In Wycliffe's Bible of 1382 God made man “to þe ymage of god”.^(Etymonline) A person who closely resembles another, as in ''the very image of his father'', is a related sense.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate) The sense “the impression a person or institution presents to the public” is found in isolated cases from 1908, in Chesterton,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) but became common only in the 1950s in the jargon of advertising and public relations, in phrases such as ''corporate image''.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The verb, “to form a mental picture of”, is from the late 14th century,^(Etymonline) and in modern technology “to make a visual representation of, as by scanning” is a new sense.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1200 – a statue, a likeness.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+ * early 14th century – a reflection.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1380 – a mental picture.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * late 14th century – verb, to imagine.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1908 – a public image.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1958 – in public relations.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A representation of a person or thing in a [[picture]], [[photograph]] or sculpture.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A reproduction of an object formed by a lens or mirror, or on a screen.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A mental picture; an idea.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The general impression that a person, organization or product presents to the public.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ # A person who closely resembles another.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A vivid description or [[figure of speech]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To make a likeness of; to produce an image of, as by scanning.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To picture in the mind; to [[imagine]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # To mirror or reflect.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[imageless]]

+ * [[imager]]

+ * [[imageable]]

+ * [[self-image]]

+ * [[imagery]]

+ * [[afterimage]]

+ * [[imagemaker]]

+ * [[imagesetter]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[imaginary]]

+ * [[imaginable]]

+ * [[imagination]]

+ * [[imaginative]]

+ * [[imagine]]

+ * [[imitate]]

+ * [[emulate]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In west Somerset dialect ''images'' were the plaster figures carried about for sale.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}