imagination

See also:Imagination

English

Etymology

FromMiddle Englishymaginacioun,fromOld Frenchimaginacion,ymaginacion,fromLatinimāginātiō.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):/ɪˌmæd͡ʒəˈneɪʃən/

• Audio(US):

  (file)

• Rhymes:-eɪʃən

Noun

imagination(countableanduncountable,pluralimaginations)

1. The image-making power of themind;the act of mentally creating or reproducing anobjectnot previously perceived; the ability to create such images.

   Imaginationis one of the most advanced human faculties.

   • 1913,Robert Barr,chapter 5, inLord Stranleigh Abroad‎^[1]:

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

2. Particularly, construction of false images; fantasizing.

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

3. Creativity;resourcefulness.

   Hisimaginationmakes him a valuable team member.

4. A mentalimageformed by the action of the imagination as a faculty; somethingimagined.

   Synonyms:conception,notion,imagining

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

     And yet the invention of young men, is more lively than that of old; andimaginationsstream 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
• figment of one's imagination
• imaginational
• leave little to the imagination
• leave nothing to the imagination
• leave to the imagination

Translations

image-making power of the mind

• Afrikaans:verbeelding(af)
• Albanian:imagjinatë(sq)f
• Arabic:خَيَّال(ar)m(ḵayyāl),تَخَيُّلm(taḵayyul),تَصَوُّرm(taṣawwur),مُخَيَّلَةf(muḵayyala)
• Armenian:երեւակայություն(hy)(erewakayutʻyun)
• Azerbaijani:təxəyyül(az),xəyal(az)
• Bashkir:хыял(xıyal)
• Belarusian:выабражэ́ннеn(vyabražénnje),выабражэ́ньнеn(vyabražénʹnje),уяўле́нне(be)n(ujaŭljénnje),уяўле́ньнеn(ujaŭljénʹnje)
• 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:Tưởng tượng lực(soeng²zoeng⁶lik⁶)

  Mandarin:Tưởng tượng lực(zh)(xiǎngxiànglì)

• Czech:představivost(cs)f
• Danish:fantasic,forestillingsevnec,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:φαντασίαf(phantasía),ἐπίνοια(epínoia)

• Hebrew:דִּמְיוֹן(he)(dimyon)
• Hindi:कल्पना(hi)f(kalpanā),तसव्वुर(hi)m(tasavvur),तख़य्युलm(taxayyul)
• Hungarian:képzelet(hu)
• Icelandic:ímyndunarafl(is)n
• Indonesian:imajinasi(id)
• Irish:íomháineachtf
• Italian:immaginazione(it)f
• Japanese:Tưởng tượng lực(ja)(そうぞうりょく, sōzōryoku)
• Kazakh:қиял(qiäl)
• Khmer:រូបាទ្យារម្មណ៍(ruupaatyiərɑm)
• Korean:상상력( tưởng tượng lực )(ko)(sangsangnyeok)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish:xeyal(ku)

• Kyrgyz:кыял(kıyal)
• Lao:ຈິນຕະນາການ(lo)(chin ta nā kān)
• Latin:opiniof
• Latvian:iztēlef
• Lithuanian:vaizduotėf
• Macedonian:воо́бразбаf(voóbrazba),имагина́цијаf(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 hīwungf,gedwimorm
• Pashto:خيال(ps)m(xyāl),تخيل(ps)m(taxayól),تصور(ps)m(tasawór),مخيلهf(mxayelá)
• Persian:

  Iranian Persian:خِیال(xiyâl),تَخَیُّل(taxayyol),تَصَوُّر(tasavvor),مُخَیِّلِه(moxayyele)

• Plautdietsch:Enbildunkf
• Polish:fantazja(pl)f,imaginacja(pl)f,wyobraźnia(pl)f
• Portuguese:imaginação(pt)f
• Romanian:imaginație(ro)f,fantezie(ro)f,forță de imaginaref
• Russian:воображе́ние(ru)n(voobražénije)
• Scottish Gaelic:mac-meanmnam
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic:ма̀штаf,имагина́цијаf

  Roman:màšta(sh)f,imaginácija(sh)f

• Shan:^{(pleaseverify)}လွင်ႈထၢင်ႇၼႂ်းၸႂ်(lāung thàang náue tsǎue),^{(pleaseverify)}တၢင်းထၢင်ႇၼႂ်းၸႂ်(táang thàang náue tsǎue)
• Slovak:predstavivosťf
• Slovene:domišljija(sl)f
• Spanish:imaginación(es)f,magín(es)
• Swahili:ubunifu
• 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:уя́ваf(ujáva),уя́влення(uk)n(ujávlennja)
• Urdu:خَیالm(xayāl),تَخَیُّلm(taxayyul),تَصَوُّرm(tasavvur),مُخَیِّلَہf(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:Tưởng tượng(zh)(xiǎngxiàng)

• Dutch:verbeelding(nl)f
• Finnish:kuvittelu(fi),mielikuvitus(fi)
• Indonesian:imajinasi(id)
• Irish:íomháineachtf
• Japanese:Tưởng tượng(ja)(そうぞう, sōzō),Không tưởng(ja)(くうそう, kūsō)
• Korean:상상( tưởng tượng )(ko)(sangsang)
• Macedonian:воо́бразбаf(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-meanmnam
• Swedish:inbillning(sv)c

creativity; resourcefulness—see alsocreativity

• Finnish:mielikuvitus(fi)
• Middle English:ymaginacioun

mental image

• Afrikaans:verbeelding(af)
• Arabic:صُورَة ذِهْنِيَّةf(ṣūra ḏihniyya)
• Armenian:մտապատկեր(hy)(mtapatker)
• Belarusian:выабражэ́ннеn(vyabražénnje),выабражэ́ньнеn(vyabražénʹnje),уяўле́нне(be)n(ujaŭljénnje),уяўле́ньнеn(ujaŭljénʹnje)
• 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:Tưởng tượng(ja)(そうぞう, sōzō),Không tưởng(ja)(くうそう, kūsō)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish:خەیاڵ(xeyall)

• Macedonian:воо́бразбаf(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:уя́ваf(ujáva),уя́влення(uk)n(ujávlennja)

Further reading

• imaginationon Wikipedia.Wikipedia

French

Etymology

InheritedfromMiddle French,fromOld Frenchimaginacion,borrowed fromLatinimāginātiōnem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):/i.ma.ʒi.na.sjɔ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

imaginationf(pluralimaginations)

1. (countableanduncountable)imagination

Related terms

• image
• imaginer
• imaginatif

Further reading

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

Middle French

Alternative forms

• ymagination

Etymology

FromOld Frenchimaginacion,borrowed fromLatinimāginātiō.

Noun

imaginationf(pluralimaginations)

1. (countableanduncountable)imagination
2. thought;reflection;idea

Related terms

• imaginer

Descendants

• French:imagination