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imagine
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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See also: imaginé
English
Etymology
From Middle English ymagynen, from Middle French imaginer, from Latin imāginor, from imāginem, the accusative singular of imāgō (“a copy, likeness, image”).
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation, General American, Canada, General Australian) IPA(key): /ɪˈmæd͡ʒ.ɪn/
Audio (California): (file)
- (New Zealand) IPA(key): /ɪˈmɛd͡ʒ.ɪn/
- Hyphenation: i‧ma‧gine
Verb
imagine (third-person singular simple present imagines, present participle imagining, simple past and past participle imagined)
- (transitive) To form a mental image of something; to envision or create something in one's mind.
- Synonyms: project, see, fancy
- Try to imagine a pink elephant.
- Imagine yourself in a packed airport lounge.
- 1971, John Lennon, “Imagine”, in Imagine (album):
- Imagine all the people / Livin' life in peace
- c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i], page 159, column 2:
- Or in the night, imagining ſome feare, / How eaſie is a buſh ſuppos’d a Beare?
- 2013 June 14, Jonathan Freedland, “Obama's once hip brand is now tainted”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 1, page 18:
- Now we are liberal with our innermost secrets, spraying them into the public ether with a generosity our forebears could not have imagined. Where we once sent love letters in a sealed envelope, or stuck photographs of our children in a family album, now such private material is despatched to servers and clouds operated by people we don't know and will never meet.
- (transitive) To believe in something created by one's own mind, often something false.
- Synonym: fancy
- She imagined that the man wanted to kill her.
- There's nothing there; you're just imagining things.
- (transitive) To assume; to suppose.
- I imagine that he will need to rest after such a long flight.
- (transitive) To conjecture; to guess.
- I cannot even imagine what you are up to!
- The board imagines the merger will increase profits by 25%
- (transitive) To use one's imagination.
- Imagine that we were siblings.
- (transitive, obsolete) To contrive in purpose; to scheme; to devise.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 62:3, column 1:
- How long wil ye imagine miſchiefe againſt a man?
- (transitive, Internet slang, rhetorical, sarcastic) Used to mock an idea by suggesting that it is ridiculous or ill thought through.
- Imagine thinking that would work.
Usage notes
- This is a catenative verb that takes the gerund (-ing). See Appendix:English catenative verbs
- This is generally a stative verb that rarely takes the continuous inflection. See Category:English stative verbs
Synonyms
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
(transitive) to form a mental image of something
|
(transitive) to believe
|
(transitive) to assume
|
(transitive) to conjecture
(intransitive) to use one's imagination
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Noun
imagine (plural imagines)
- (fandom slang) A short fanfic or prompt placing a reader insert in a novel scenario with a character or celebrity.
- 2015 March 2, Laura Starling, “FFIC101: An Introduction to the Horrors of Fanfiction”, in Critic, University of Otago, page 21:
- Some imagines are more sexual and creepy than others: "Imagine Stiles walking in on you giving Scott a blowjob."
- 2016 December, Jocelyn Chambers, “The Exclusion Of People Of Color In Fanfiction”, in Majesty, page 96:
- i personally like imagines and fanfics so i found a good amount of kylo ren x reader fics and started going through them.
- 2019, "thranduilsperkybutt", quoted in "Author Spotlight: thranduilsperkybutt", Lemon, February 2019, page 37:
- If I get inspired immediately, I can bust out an imagine in 5-10 minutes.
- For more quotations using this term, see Citations:imagine.
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French
Pronunciation
Verb
imagine
- inflection of imaginer:
Latin
Noun
imāgine
Portuguese
Verb
imagine
- inflection of imaginar:
Romanian
Etymology
Pronunciation
Audio: (file)
Noun
imagine f (plural imagini)
Declension
Related terms
See also
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Spanish
Pronunciation
Verb
imagine
- inflection of imaginar:
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