ideate

English

Etymology 1

From idea +‎ -ate (verb-forming suffix).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈaɪdieɪt/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

Verb

ideate (third-person singular simple present ideates, present participle ideating, simple past and past participle ideated)

1. To apprehend in thought so as to fix and hold in the mind; to memorize.
2. To generate an idea.

   Coordinate terms: brainstorm, innovate; brainchild (rare)

   • 2023, Devika Rege, Quarterlife, Dialogue Books (2025), page 358:

     Two thousand young men and women from across the country had gathered under canvas tents on a public ground for a weekend of ideating and networking.

Derived terms

• ideation
• ideational
• ideationally
• ideative
• ideator

Related terms

• idealize

Translations

To apprehend in thought

Bulgarian: представям си (predstavjam si) Catalan: idear (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 形成概念 Czech: představovat si (cs) impf French: idéer (fr) Occitan: idear (oc) Portuguese: idear (pt) Spanish: idear (es)

Etymology 2

From idea +‎ -ate (adjective-forming suffix).

Adjective

ideate (not comparable)

1. Produced by an idea.

Etymology 3

From Late Latin ideatum. See idea.

Alternative forms

• ideat

Noun

ideate (plural ideates)

1. (metaphysics) The actual existence supposed to correspond with an idea; the correlate in real existence to the idea as a thought or existence.

Further reading

• “ideate”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “ideate”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

Italian

Verb

ideate

1. inflection of ideare:
   1. second-person plural present indicative
   2. second-person plural imperative

Spanish

Verb

ideate

1. second-person singular voseo imperative of idear combined with te