Imagine: Making a Picture Where There Is None
To imagine is to form an image in the mind. The Latin root is image, and the word still works best when something is actually pictured.
To imagine is to form a picture or an idea of something not present. The root is Latin *imago*, image, and the word is at its strongest when there is something to see: imagining a house is easy, imagining a policy less so. English also uses it for wrongly supposing: *you're imagining things*.
- To form a mental picture. *Imagine a red door.*
- To suppose. *I imagine she is busy.*
- To believe something untrue. *You are imagining it.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb | imagine | Imagine the scene. |
| Past | imagined | She imagined it. |
| Noun | imagination | A vivid imagination. |
| Adjective | imaginary | An imaginary friend. |
| Adjective | imaginative | An imaginative solution. |
How it is used in a sentence
- Imagine trying to explain that to a stranger.Imagine plus -ing is very common.
- I imagine they will be late.A soft way of saying I expect.
- He imagines everyone is against him.Believing something without grounds.
Imaginary or imaginative?
- Imaginary — not real (*an imaginary number*)
- Imaginative — showing imagination (*an imaginative design*)
- Imaginable — able to be imagined (*every imaginable colour*)
- Unimaginable — beyond picturing
- Image — the picture itself, mental or physical
From Old French *imaginer*, from Latin *imaginari*, to picture to oneself, from *imago*, image. The same root gives *imagery*, *imitate* is a different family, and *imagination* arrived alongside it.
Imaginary or imaginative?
An imaginary friend does not exist. An imaginative friend has good ideas. The words are not interchangeable.
Can everyone picture things mentally?
No. Some people have aphantasia and form no mental images at all, while still thinking and remembering normally.