idea English · revision 3623

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1398 (Trevisa)|origins=ine-pro *weid-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /aɪˈdɪə/, US /aɪˈdiː.ə/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|ydea]], [[bor|la|idea|t=Platonic idea, archetype]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[grc|ἰδέα|tr=idéa|t=look, semblance, form; kind]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Klein 1966) from [[m|grc|ἰδεῖν|tr=ideîn|t=to see]],^(Etymonline)^(COED 2004)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[ine-pro|*weid-|t=to see]].^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) Cicero still wrote the word in Greek.^(Etymonline) Barnhart thinks Old French [[m|fro|idee]] was probably also an influence.^(Barnhart 1988) It is related to [[wit]], [[vision]], [[idol]], [[idyll]], [[history]] and [[kaleidoscope]].^(Klein 1966)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In Platonic philosophy, an ideal form or archetype: before 1398, in Trevisa's translation of Bartholomew's ''De Proprietatibus Rerum''.^(Barnhart 1988) Etymonline also gives “the concept of a thing in the mind of God”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The Greek word first meant the look of a thing, and Plato made it the eternal pattern of which individual things are copies.^(Klein 1966)^(Etymonline) In English, “something imagined or fancied” appears in Shakespeare's ''Love's Labour's Lost'' (1588), “a mental image recalled from memory” in 1589, and “a mental image” in general in 1612.^(Barnhart 1988) The sense “a plan of something to be done” is also from the 1610s,^(Etymonline) and “any result of thinking” from about 1645.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) Descartes, Locke, Berkeley, Hume and Kant developed the philosophical sense further.^(Etymonline) The form ''idee'', as in Dutch and German, survives in English dialects.^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) ''Ideal'' is from the 17th century,^(Hoad 1986) ''idée fixe'' from 1836, and the colloquial ''big idea'' from 1908.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1398 – a Platonic archetype (Trevisa).^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1588 – a fancy (''Love's Labour's Lost'').^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1589 – an image recalled from memory.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1610s – a plan of action.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1612 – a mental image.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1645 – any result of thinking.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1836 – ''idée fixe''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1908 – ''big idea''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A thought or [[conception]] that exists in the mind as the product of mental activity.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # An [[opinion]], belief or principle.^(AHD)

+ # A plan, scheme or method.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # The gist or point of something: ''get the idea''.^(AHD)

+ # A vague notion or [[fancy]].^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ # A theme or [[motif]].^(AHD)

+ # ''(philosophy)'' In Plato, an eternal [[archetype]] of which things are imperfect copies.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[idealess]]

+ * [[ideamonger]]

+ * [[subidea]]

+ * [[fixed idea]]

+ * [[idea man]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[ideal]]

+ * [[ideality]]

+ * [[ideate]]

+ * [[ideatum]]

+ * [[idealize]]

+ * [[idealist]]

+ * [[idealism]]

+ * [[ideology]]

+ * [[ideologue]]

+ * [[wit]]

+ * [[vision]]

+ * [[idol]]

+ * [[idyll]]

+ * [[history]]

+ * [[kaleidoscope]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The American Heritage Dictionary groups ''idea'' with ''thought'', ''notion'', ''concept'' and ''conception'', noting that ''idea'' has the widest range.^(AHD) In British English, the Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary notes a stress on the first syllable, /ˈaɪ.dɪə/, sometimes heard when a stressed syllable follows.^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}