Etymology From Middle English ymage, borrowed from Old French image, from Latin imāgō (“a copy, likeness, image”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eym-; the same PIE root is the source of imitari (“to copy, imitate”); see imitate. Doublet of imago.
A visual or other representation of the external form of something in art.
The Bible forbids the worship of graven images.
The Citizens in their rage, imagining that euery poſt in the Churche had bin one of yᵉ Souldyers, ſhot habbe or nabbe at randon^([sic – meaning random]) uppe to the Roode lofte, and to the Chancell, leauing ſome of theyr arrowes ſticking in the Images.1577, Raphaell Holinshed; Richarde Stanyhurst [i.e., Richard Stanihurst], “[The Historie of Irelande […].] The Thirde Booke of the Historie of Ireland, Comprising the Raigne of Henry the Eyght: ….”, in The Firste Volume of the Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande […], volume I, London: […] [Henry Bynneman] for Iohn Hunne, →OCLC, pages 77–78, column 2:
2 more examples
Drawings and pictures are more than mere ornaments in scientific discourse. Blackboard sketches, geological maps, diagrams of molecular structure, astronomical photographs, MRI images, the many varieties of statistical charts and graphs: These pictorial devices are indispensable tools for presenting evidence, for explaining a theory, for telling a story.2012 March, Brian Hayes, “Pixels or Perish”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, archived from the original on 19 Feb 2013, page 106:
They also have high spatial resolution, resolving incoming images in minute detail. […] Although classic science fiction films might wish you to believe otherwise, most insect eyes do not form a complete image in each facet.2013 July-August, Fenella Saunders, “Tiny Lenses See the Big Picture”, in American Scientist, archived from the original on 13 Aug 2014:
2
A file on a computer containing a single frame; an image file.
3
A mental picture of something not real or not present.
Think of banking today and the image is of grey-suited men in towering skyscrapers. Its future, however, is being shaped in converted warehouses and funky offices in San Francisco, New York and London, where bright young things in jeans and T-shirts huddle around laptops, sipping lattes or munching on free food.2013 August 3, “Revenge of the nerds”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847, archived from the original on 11 Mar 2023:
4
A statue or idol.
5
Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences A file that contains all information needed to produce a live working copy. (See disk image and image copy.)
Most game console emulators do not come with any ROM images for copyright reasons.
6
A characteristic of a person, group or company etc., style, manner of dress, how one is or wishes to be perceived by others.
7
Mathematics, Sciences The value a function maps some argument to.
The number 6 is the image of 3 under f that is defined as f(x) = 2x.
8
Mathematics, Sciences The subset of the codomain of a function comprising those elements that are the image of some element of its domain.
The image of this step function is the set of integers.
9
Broadcasting, Media, Radio A form of interference: a weaker "copy" of a strong signal that occurs at a different frequency.
The face of things a frightful image bears.1697, Virgil, “(please specify the book number)”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
11
Engineering, Natural sciences, Optics, Physical sciences, Physics The collection of focus points of light rays coming from a given object.
Etymology From Middle English ymage, borrowed from Old French image, from Latin imāgō (“a copy, likeness, image”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eym-; the same PIE root is the source of imitari (“to copy, imitate”); see imitate. Doublet of imago.
1
To represent by an image or symbol; to portray.
1718, Alexander Pope, The Iliad of Homer, London: Bernard Lintot, Volume IV, Observations on the Fifteenth Book, Note 14 on verse 252, p. 215, This Representation of the Terrors which must have attended the Conflict of two such mighty Powers as Jupiter and Neptune, whereby the Elements had been mix’d in Confusion, and the whole Frame of Nature endangered, is imaged in these few Lines with a Nobleness suitable to the Occasion.
[…] his behaviour was, as I had imaged to myself, solemnly devout.1791, James Boswell, “(please specify the year)”, in James Boswell, editor, The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. […], volume I, London: […] Henry Baldwin, for Charles Dilly, […], →OCLC, page 393:
3 more examples
[…] he repeated, with such tremulous feeling, the various lines which imaged a broken heart, or a mind destroyed by wretchedness, and looked so entirely as if he meant to be understood, that she ventured to hope he did not always read only poetry, and to say, that she thought it was the misfortune of poetry to be seldom safely enjoyed by those who enjoyed it completely […]1817 (date written), [Jane Austen], chapter XI, in Persuasion; published in Northanger Abbey: And Persuasion. […], volume (please specify |volume=III or IV), London: John Murray, […], 20 December 1817 (indicated as 1818), →OCLC:
[The road] straggled onward into the mystery of a primeval forest. This hemmed it in so narrowly, and stood so black and dense on either side, and disclosed such imperfect glimpses of the sky above, that, to Hester’s mind, it imaged not amiss the moral wilderness in which she had so long been wandering.1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, chapter 16, in The Scarlet Letter, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLC, page 222:
For example, in one use of content analysis, U.S. researchers Victoria Holden, William Holden, and Gary Davis (1997) examined the growing controversy over the racial imaging of indigenous peoples symbolized in sports team nicknames […]2000, Mary Ann Schwartz, BarBara Marliene Scott, Madine M. L. Vanderplaat, Sociology: Making Sense of the Social World, page 51:
2
To reflect, mirror.
See’st thou yon river, whose translucent wave, Forth issuing from the darkness, windeth through The argent streets o’ th’ City, imaging The soft inversion of her tremulous Domes,1829, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, “Timbuctoo”, in The Poems of Alfred Lord Tennyson, volume I, London: J.M. Dent & Sons, published 1906, page 10:
Sorrow was dead indeed in her, but peace and perfect happiness were born; imaged in her tranquil beauty and profound repose.1840 April – 1841 November, Charles Dickens, “Chapter the Seventy-first”, in The Old Curiosity Shop. A Tale. […], volume II, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1841, →OCLC, page 210:
1 more example
[…]we look into a pair of eyes deep as our own, imaging our own, but all unconscious of us; to whom we, for the time, are become as spirits and invisible!1843 April, Thomas Carlyle, “2, “St. Edmundsbury,””, in Past and Present, American edition, Boston, Mass.: Charles C[offin] Little and James Brown, published 1843, →OCLC, book II (The Ancient Monk), page 43:
3
To create an image of.
The single-imaging optic of the mammalian eye offers some distinct visual advantages. Such lenses can take in photons from a wide range of angles, increasing light sensitivity. They also have high spatial resolution, resolving incoming images in minute detail.2013 July-August, Fenella Saunders, “Tiny Lenses See the Big Picture”, in American Scientist, archived from the original on 13 Aug 2014:
He added, in an email to CNN, that “the collection of increasingly large and well curated medical datasets has enabled AI tools to predict genetic mutations from imaging phenotypes reducing the burden of healthcare systems and improving the way we care for patients.” Phenotypes are observable characteristics.2019 January 8, Nina Avramova, “AI technology can identify genetic diseases by looking at your face, study says”, in CNN, archived from the original on 27 Nov 2022:
4
Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences To create a complete backup copy of a file system or other entity.