imagine English · revision 2850

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1340|origins=la imāgō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɪˈmædʒ.ɪn/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|ymagynen]], imaginen,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) [[bor|fro|imaginer|t=to sculpt, carve, paint, decorate]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) a learned borrowing from [[la|imāginor|t=I picture to myself, imagine]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) and Late Latin imāginō “I form an image of, represent”,^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998)^(SOED 2002) from [[m|la|imāgō|t=an image, likeness]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) the source of [[image]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ “To form a mental image of”: 1340,^(OED 1989) about 1340 in Barnhart,^(Barnhart 1988) the mid-14th century.^(Etymonline) To devise or plot something to be done is from 1351.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The sense “to think, suppose, fancy” is recorded from about 1380.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) To ponder or meditate is from about 1386, and is obsolete.^(OED 1989) To form an idea about something not known with certainty, to guess, is from 1548.^(OED 1989) Johnson (1755) defined it as “to fancy; to paint in the mind”.^(Johnson 1755) ''Imagination'' is also from 1340,^(Barnhart 1988) ''imaginable'' from about 1380, in Chaucer,^(Barnhart 1988) and ''imaginary'' from about 1395, in the Wycliffe Bible.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1340 – to form a mental image of, and ''imagination''.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1351 – to plot.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1380 – to suppose, and ''imaginable''.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1395 – ''imaginary''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1548 – to guess.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To form a picture of something in the [[mind]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To think or suppose; to [[guess]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To believe something without good reason: ''you're imagining things''.^(AHD)

+ # To use the [[imagination]].^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[imaginer]]

+ * [[imaginable]]

+ * [[imaginal]]

+ * [[imaginary]]

+ * [[imagination]]

+ * [[imaginative]]

+ * [[Imagineer]]

+ * [[preimagine]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[image]]

+ * [[imagery]]

+ * [[imago]]

+ * [[imitate]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}