imagination
noun/ɪˌmæd͡ʒəˈneɪʃən/
Etymology From Middle English ymaginacioun, from Old French imaginacion, ymaginacion, from Latin imāginātiō. Equivalent to imagine + -ation.
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.
- She removed Stranleigh’s coat with a dexterity that aroused his imagination.1913, Robert Barr, chapter 5, in Lord Stranleigh Abroad:
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.
- It is a pleasant imagination to conceive a spirit iustly ballanced betweene two equall desires.1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 14, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →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.1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Youth and Age”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC:
- Synonyms
- 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, sociological imagination