imaginary English · revision 39645

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=a1425, Wycliffite Bible (later version)|origins=la imāgō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * UK: /ɪˈmæd͡ʒɪnəɹi/, /ɪˈmæd͡ʒɪnɹi/^(Wiktionary)

+ * US: /ɪˈmæd͡ʒɪˌn(ɛ)ɹi/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|imāginārius|t=consisting of a mere semblance, unreal, fictitious]],^(OED 2026)^(Klein 1966)^(SOED 2002) formed with the suffix [[m|la|-ārius]] (English [[-ary]]) on [[m|la|imāgō|t=image]].^(OED 2026)^(ODE 2010)^(Dictionary.com 2016) In post-classical Latin the adjective also meant "concerning images" (early 4th century) and "of the imagination" (from the 12th century in British sources), and as a noun it named a standard-bearer (4th century).^(OED 2026) Etymonline also allows that it may have been formed in English from [[imagine]] and ''-ary''.^(Etymonline) Johnson (1755) gave its source as [[m|fr|imaginaire]].^(Johnson 1755)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Existing only in imagination or fancy; not real: a1425, in the later version of the Wycliffite Bible.^(OED 2026) Etymonline dates ''imaginarie'' to the late 14th century, and Dictionary.com to 1350–1400.^(Etymonline)^(Dictionary.com 2016)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Early senses also included "existing only as spirit, not bodily", now obsolete.^(OED 2026) From 1541 the word described a line or circle assumed to pass through certain points but otherwise not existing.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002) Several 16th- and 17th-century senses died out: of the nature of an image (1594–1671, first in Shakespeare's ''Lucrece''), imaginable (1624–1862), and supposed, putative (a1631–1803).^(OED 2026)^(HTOED) Johnson (1755) defined it as "fancied; visionary; existing only in the imagination".^(Johnson 1755) In mathematics Isaac Newton used it in 1670 for a quantity expressed through the square root of a negative number,^(OED 2026) and the noun ''imaginary'', such a quantity, follows in 1768.^(OED 2026) The noun had earlier meant a Roman officer who carried the emperor's image (a1460) and a fancy, something imagined (1594).^(OED 2026) ''Imaginary friend'' is attested by 1789.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * a1425 – existing only in the imagination.^(OED 2026)

+ * a1460 – noun, an officer who carried the emperor's image (obsolete).^(OED 2026)

+ * 1541 – of a line or circle, assumed but not physically real.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1594 – noun, something imagined.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1670 – (mathematics) involving the square root of a negative quantity.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1768 – noun, (mathematics) an imaginary quantity.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1789 – ''imaginary friend''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Existing only in the [[imagination]]; not real: ''The child chatted away to an imaginary companion.''^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # Of a line or point, assumed for the purposes of description but having no physical existence: ''an imaginary line between the two peaks''.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)

+ # (mathematics) Involving or being an [[imaginary number]], a multiple of the square root of −1.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # (mathematics) An imaginary quantity or [[complex number]].^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[imaginarily]]

+ * [[imaginariness]]

+ * [[imaginary number]]

+ * [[imaginary unit]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[image]]

+ * [[imagine]]

+ * [[imaginative]]

+ * [[imagination]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Dictionary.com lists ''imaginative'' as a word often confused with ''imaginary''.^(Dictionary.com 2016)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}