imagination

See also: Imagination

English

Etymology

From Middle English ymaginacioun, from Old French imaginacion, ymaginacion, from Latin imāginātiō. Equivalent to imagine +‎ -ation.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪˌmæd͡ʒəˈneɪʃən/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪʃən

Noun

imagination (countable and uncountable, plural imaginations)

1. The image-making power of the mind; the act of mentally creating or reproducing an object not previously perceived; the ability to create such images.

   Imagination is one of the most advanced human faculties.

   • 1913, Robert Barr, chapter 5, in Lord Stranleigh Abroad‎:

     She removed Stranleigh’s coat with a dexterity that aroused his imagination.

2. Particularly, construction of false images; fantasizing.

   You think someone's been following you? That's just your imagination.

3. Creativity; resourcefulness.

   His imagination makes him a valuable team member.

4. A mental image formed by the action of the imagination as a faculty; something imagined.

   Synonyms: conception, notion, imagining

   • 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 14, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:

     It is a pleasant imagination to conceive a spirit iustly ballanced betweene two equall desires.

   • 1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Youth and Age”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC:

     And yet the invention of young men, is more lively than that of old; and imaginations stream into their minds better, and, as it were, more divinely.

Synonyms

• (the representative power): creativity, fancy, imaginativeness, invention, inventiveness

Derived terms

• by any stretch of the imagination
• by no stretch of imagination
• by no stretch of the imagination
• counterimagination
• figment of one's imagination
• imaginational
• imaginationless
• leave little to the imagination
• leave nothing to the imagination
• leave to the imagination
• misimagination
• reimagination

Translations

image-making power of the mind

Afrikaans: verbeelding (af) Albanian: imagjinatë (sq) f Arabic: خَيَّال (ar) m (ḵayyāl), تَخَيُّل m (taḵayyul), تَصَوُّر m (taṣawwur), مُخَيَّلَة f (muḵayyala) Armenian: երեւակայություն (hy) (erewakayutʻyun) Azerbaijani: təxəyyül (az), xəyal (az) Bashkir: хыял (xıyal) Belarusian: выабражэ́нне n (vyabražénnje), выабражэ́ньне n (vyabražénʹnje), уяўле́нне (be) n (ujawljénnje), уяўле́ньне n (ujawljénʹnje) Bengali: কল্পনা (bn) (kolpona) Bulgarian: въображе́ние (bg) n (vǎobražénie) Burmese: စိတ်ကူး (my) (citku:), စိတ်ကူးဉာဏ် (my) (citku:nyan) Catalan: imaginació (ca) f Cebuano: handurawan Chinese: Cantonese: 想像力 (soeng2 zoeng6 lik6) Mandarin: 想像力 (zh) (xiǎngxiànglì) Czech: představivost (cs) f Danish: fantasi c, forestillingsevne c, indbildning Dutch: verbeelding (nl) f, fantasie (nl) Esperanto: imago (eo) Estonian: ettekujutus Finnish: mielikuvitus (fi) French: imagination (fr) f Galician: imaxinación (gl) f Georgian: წარმოსახვა (c̣armosaxva), ფანტაზია (panṭazia), წარმოდგენა (c̣armodgena) German: Vorstellungskraft (de) f, Imagination (de) f, Einbildungskraft (de) f, Fantasie (de) f Greek: φαντασία (el) f (fantasía) Ancient: φαντασία f (phantasía), ἐπίνοια (epínoia) Hebrew: דִּמְיוֹן (he) (dimyon) Hindi: कल्पना (hi) f (kalpanā), तसव्वुर (hi) m (tasavvur) Hungarian: képzelet (hu) Icelandic: ímyndunarafl (is) n Indonesian: imajinasi (id) Irish: íomháineacht f Italian: immaginazione (it) f Japanese: 想像力 (ja) (そうぞうりょく, sōzōryoku) Kazakh: қиял (qiäl) Khmer: រូបាទ្យារម្មណ៍ (ruupaatyiərɑm) Korean: 상상력(想像力) (ko) (sangsangnyeok) Kurdish: Northern Kurdish: xeyal (ku) Kyrgyz: кыял (kıyal) Lao: ຈິນຕະນາການ (lo) (chin ta nā kān) Latin: opinio f Latvian: iztēle f Lithuanian: vaizduotė f Macedonian: воо́бразба f (voóbrazba), имагина́ција f (imaginácija) Malay: imaginasi Maori: pohewatanga Middle English: ymaginacioun, ymagynynge Mongolian: Cyrillic: төсөөлөл (mn) (tösöölöl) Norwegian: fantasi (no) m, innbilning (no) Nynorsk: hugleik (nn) m Old English: mōdes hīwung f, gedwimor m Pashto: خيال (ps) m (xyāl), تخيل (ps) m (taxayól), تصور (ps) m (tasawór), مخيله f (mxayelá) Persian: Iranian Persian: خِیال (xiyâl), تَخَیُّل (taxayyol), تَصَوُّر (tasavvor), مُخَیِّلِه (moxayyele) Plautdietsch: Enbildunk f Polish: fantazja (pl) f, imaginacja (pl) f, wyobraźnia (pl) f Portuguese: imaginação (pt) f Romanian: imaginație (ro) f, fantezie (ro) f, forță de imaginare f Russian: воображе́ние (ru) n (voobražénije) Scottish Gaelic: mac-meanmna m Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: ма̀шта f, имагина́ција f Roman: màšta (sh) f, imaginácija (sh) f Shan: (please verify) လွင်ႈထၢင်ႇၼႂ်းၸႂ် (lāung thàang náue tsǎue), (please verify) တၢင်းထၢင်ႇၼႂ်းၸႂ် (táang thàang náue tsǎue) Slovak: predstavivosť f Slovene: domišljija (sl) f Spanish: imaginación (es) f, magín (es) Swahili: ubunifu (sw) Swedish: fantasi (sv) c, inbillning (sv) c Tagalog: haraya (tl), imahinasyon Tajik: хаёл (xayol), тахайюл (taxayyul), мухайяла (muxayyala) Tamil: கற்பனை (ta) (kaṟpaṉai) Tatar: хыял (tt) (xıyal) Thai: จินตนาการ (th) (jin-dtà-naa-gaan) Turkish: hayal gücü (tr), muhayyile (tr), imgelem (tr), hayal (tr) Turkmen: hyýal Ukrainian: уя́ва f (ujáva), уя́влення (uk) n (ujávlennja) Urdu: خَیال m (xayāl), تَخَیُّل m (taxayyul), تَصَوُّر m (tasavvur), مُخَیِّلَہ f (muxayyila) Uyghur: خىيال (xiyal) Uzbek: xayol (uz), taxayyul (uz) Vietnamese: sự hình dung (vi), sự tưởng tượng (vi)

construction of false images

Afrikaans: verbeelding (af) Armenian: երեւակայություն (hy) (erewakayutʻyun) Chinese: Mandarin: 想像 (zh) (xiǎngxiàng) Dutch: verbeelding (nl) f Finnish: kuvittelu (fi), mielikuvitus (fi) Indonesian: imajinasi (id) Irish: íomháineacht f Japanese: 想像 (ja) (そうぞう, sōzō), 空想 (ja) (くうそう, kūsō) Korean: 상상(想像) (ko) (sangsang) Macedonian: воо́бразба f (voóbrazba) Middle English: ymaginacioun Polish: urojenie (pl) n Portuguese: imaginação (pt) f Romanian: închipuire (ro) f, imaginare (ro) f, iluzionare (ro) f Russian: воображе́ние (ru) n (voobražénije) Scottish Gaelic: mac-meanmna m Swedish: inbillning (sv) c

creativity; resourcefulness — see also creativity

Finnish: mielikuvitus (fi) Middle English: ymaginacioun

mental image

Afrikaans: verbeelding (af) Arabic: صُورَة ذِهْنِيَّة f (ṣūra ḏihniyya) Armenian: մտապատկեր (hy) (mtapatker) Belarusian: выабражэ́нне n (vyabražénnje), выабражэ́ньне n (vyabražénʹnje), уяўле́нне (be) n (ujawljénnje), уяўле́ньне n (ujawljénʹnje) Bulgarian: въображе́ние (bg) n (vǎobražénie) Dutch: verbeelding (nl) f Finnish: mielikuva (fi) German: Vorstellung (de) f, Einbildung (de) f Greek: φαντασίωση (el) f (fantasíosi) Hungarian: képzelet (hu) Icelandic: ímyndun (is) f Indonesian: imajinasi (id) Japanese: 想像 (ja) (そうぞう, sōzō), 空想 (ja) (くうそう, kūsō) Kurdish: Central Kurdish: خەیاڵ (xeyall) Macedonian: воо́бразба f (voóbrazba) Maori: pohewatanga Middle English: ymaginacioun Polish: wyobrażenie (pl) n Portuguese: imaginação (pt) f Romanian: imagine (ro) f, imaginare (ro) f, închipuire (ro) f Russian: воображе́ние (ru) n (voobražénije) Spanish: imaginación (es) f Swedish: fantasi (sv) c, inbillning (sv) c (false image) Ukrainian: уя́ва f (ujáva), уя́влення (uk) n (ujávlennja)

Further reading

• imagination on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

French

French Wikipedia has an article on:

imagination

Wikipedia ^fr

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French, from Old French imaginacion, borrowed from Latin imāginātiōnem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /i.ma.ʒi.na.sjɔ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

Noun

imagination f (plural imaginations)

1. (countable and uncountable) imagination

Related terms

• image
• imaginer
• imaginatif

Further reading

• “imagination”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Middle French

Alternative forms

• ymagination

Etymology

From Old French imaginacion, borrowed from Latin imāginātiō.

Noun

imagination f (plural imaginations)

1. (countable and uncountable) imagination
2. thought; reflection; idea

Related terms

• imaginer

Descendants

• French: imagination