Wiktionary

imagine

See also: imaginé

English

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Etymology

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From Middle English ymagynen, from Middle French imaginer, from Latin imāginor, from imāginem, the accusative singular of imāgō (“a copy, likeness, image”).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ɪˈmæ.d͡ʒɪn/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Hyphenation: imag‧ine

Verb

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imagine (third-person singular simple present imagines, present participle imagining, simple past and past participle imagined)

  1. (transitive) To form a mental image of something; to envision or create something in one's mind.
    Try to imagine a pink elephant.
    • 1971, John Lennon (lyrics and music), “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.
  2. (transitive) To believe in something created by one's own mind, often something false.
    She imagined that the man wanted to kill her.
    There's nothing there; you're just imagining things.
  3. (transitive) To assume; to suppose.
    I imagine that he will need to rest after such a long flight.
  4. (transitive) To conjecture; to guess.
    I cannot even imagine what you are up to!
    The board imagines the merger will increase profits by 25%
  5. (transitive) To use one's imagination.
    Imagine that we were siblings.
  6. (transitive, obsolete) To contrive in purpose; to scheme; to devise.
  7. (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

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Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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Noun

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imagine (plural imagines)

  1. (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.

French

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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imagine

  1. inflection of imaginer:
    1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
    2. second-person singular imperative

Latin

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Noun

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imāgine

  1. ablative singular of imāgō

Portuguese

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Verb

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imagine

  1. inflection of imaginar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative

Romanian

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Latin imāgō, imāginem. Compare French image.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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imagine f (plural imagini)

  1. image

Declension

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singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative-accusative imagine imaginea imagini imaginile
genitive-dative imagini imaginii imagini imaginilor
vocative imagine, imagineo imaginilor
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See also

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Spanish

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /imaˈxine/ [i.maˈxi.ne]
  • Rhymes: -ine
  • Syllabification: i‧ma‧gi‧ne

Verb

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imagine

  1. inflection of imaginar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative
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idea 1
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