imagination

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i·mag·i·na·tion

(ĭ-măj′ə-nā′shən)

a. The ability to form mental images of things that are not present to the senses or not considered to be real: The author uses her imagination to create a universe parallel to our own.

b. The formation of such images: a child's imagination of monsters.

c. One of these mental images: "some secret sense ... which ... took to itself and treasured up ... her thoughts, her imaginations, her desires" (Virginia Woolf).

d. The mind viewed as the locus or repository of this ability or these images: "This story had been rattling around in my imagination for years" (Orson Scott Card).

2. The ability to confront and deal with reality by using the creative power of the mind; resourcefulness: handled the problems with great imagination.

3. Attention, interest, or enthusiasm: an explorer's ordeal that caught the imagination of the public.

i·mag′i·na′tion·al adj.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

imagination

(ɪˌmædʒɪˈneɪʃən)

1. the faculty or action of producing ideas, esp mental images of what is not present or has not been experienced

2. mental creative ability

3. the ability to deal resourcefully with unexpected or unusual problems, circumstances, etc

4. (Literary & Literary Critical Terms) (in romantic literary criticism, esp that of S. T. Coleridge) a creative act of perception that joins passive and active elements in thinking and imposes unity on the poetic material. Compare fancy⁹

imˌagiˈnational adj

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

im•ag•i•na•tion

(ɪˌmædʒ əˈneɪ ʃən)

n.

1. the action or faculty of forming mental images or concepts of what is not actually present to the senses.

2. creative talent or ability.

3. the product of imagining; a conception or mental creation.

4. ability to face and resolve difficulties; resourcefulness.

[1300–50; Middle English < Latin]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	imagination - the formation of a mental image of something that is not perceived as real and is not present to the senses; "popular imagination created a world of demons"; "imagination reveals what the world could be" imaginativeness, vision creative thinking, creativeness, creativity - the ability to create fictitious place, imaginary place, mythical place - a place that exists only in imagination; a place said to exist in fictional or religious writings fancy - a kind of imagination that was held by Coleridge to be more casual and superficial than true imagination fantasy, phantasy - imagination unrestricted by reality; "a schoolgirl fantasy" dreaming, dream - imaginative thoughts indulged in while awake; "he lives in a dream that has nothing to do with reality" imaginary being, imaginary creature - a creature of the imagination; a person that exists only in legends or myths or fiction
	2.	imagination - the ability to form mental images of things or events; "he could still hear her in his imagination" imagery, imaging, mental imagery representational process - any basic cognitive process in which some entity comes to stand for or represent something else mind's eye - the imaging of remembered or invented scenes; "I could see her clearly in my mind's eye" vision - a vivid mental image; "he had a vision of his own death" envisioning, picturing - visual imagery dream, dreaming - a series of mental images and emotions occurring during sleep; "I had a dream about you last night" chimaera, chimera - a grotesque product of the imagination evocation - imaginative re-creation make-believe, pretense, pretence - imaginative intellectual play
	3.	imagination - the ability to deal resourcefully with unusual problems; "a man of resource" resourcefulness, resource cleverness, ingeniousness, ingenuity, inventiveness - the power of creative imagination armory, armoury, inventory - a collection of resources; "he dipped into his intellectual armory to find an answer"

imagination

noun

1. creativity, vision, invention, ingenuity, enterprise, insight, inspiration, wit, originality, inventiveness, resourcefulness He has a logical mind and a little imagination.

2. mind's eye, fancy Long before I went there, the place was alive in my imagination.

3. interest, attention, curiosity, fascination Italian football captured the imagination of the nation last season.

Quotations
"The Possible's slow fuse is lit"
"By the Imagination" [Emily Dickinson]
"People can die of mere imagination" [Geoffrey Chaucer The Miller's Tale]
"Nature uses imagination to lift her work of creation to even higher levels" [Luigi Pirandello Six Characters in Search of an Author]
"I have imagination, and nothing that is real is alien to me" [George Santayana Little Essays]
"Only in men's imagination does every truth find an effective and undeniable existence. Imagination, not invention, is the supreme master of art as of life" [Joseph Conrad A Personal Record]
"My imagination makes me human and makes me a fool; it gives me all the world and exiles me from it" [Ursula Le Guin Winged: the Creatures on My Mind]
"Imagination, the supreme delight of the immortal and the immature, should be limited. In order to enjoy life, we should not enjoy it too much" [Vladimir Nabokov Speak, Memory]

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

imagination

noun

The power of the mind to form images:

fancy, fantasy, imaginativeness.

Translations

خيالخَيالخَيَالٌخَيال، قُدْرَةٌ على الإبتداعخَيال، وَهْم

představivostvýplod obrazotvornostifantazieobrazotvornost

fantasiforestillingsevne

Einbildung Fantasie Imagination Vorstellungskraft Phantasie

φαντασία

imago

imaginación fantasía

mielikuvitusmielikuva

imagination fantaisie

mašta

képzeletképzelõdésképzelõtehetség

ímyndunímyndunarafl

immaginazione fantasia

想像

상상

verbeelding

fantasi innlevelse

wyobraźniaurojeniewyobrażenie

imaginação

воображение

obrazotvornosťpredstavivosťvýplod predstavivosti

domišljija

fantasi

จินตนาการ

hayalhayal etme gücühayal gücükuruntu vehim

trí tưởng tượng

想象力空想创造力

imagination

[ɪˌmædʒɪˈneɪʃən] N (= mental ability) → imaginación f; (= inventiveness) → imaginación f, inventiva f
it's all in your imagination → te lo estás imaginando, son imaginaciones tuyas
was it my imagination or did I see you there? → ¿me lo he imaginado o te vi allí de verdad?
to have a vivid imagination → tener una imaginación muy viva or despierta
she let her imagination run away with her → se dejó llevar por la imaginación
her story caught the popular imagination → su historia atrapó el interés popular
it doesn't take much imagination to realize what happened → no hace falta tener mucha imaginación para darse cuenta de lo que ocurrió
use your imagination → usa la imaginación

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

imagination

[ɪˌmædʒɪˈneɪʃ^ən] n

(= ability to imagine) → imagination f
to have a vivid imagination → avoir une imagination fertile
to have little imagination → avoir peu d'imagination
a lack of imagination → un manque d'imagination
it's just your imagination → tu imagines des choses
to capture sb's imagination → frapper l'imagination de qn

(= mind) → imagination m
I can still see her in my imagination → Je la vois encore en imagination.

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

imagination

n (creative) → Fantasie f, → Phantasie f, → Vorstellungskraft f, → Einbildungskraft f; (self-deceptive) → Einbildung f; to have (a lively or vivid) imagination → (eine lebhafte or rege) Fantasie haben; he has little imagination → er hat wenig Fantasie; use your imagination → lassen Sie Ihre Fantasie spielen; in order to encourage children to use their imagination(s) → um die Fantasie von Kindern anzuregen; to lack imagination → fantasielos or einfallslos sein; it’s just your imagination! → das bilden Sie sich (dat) → nur ein!; it’s all in your imagination → das ist alles Einbildung; to capture or catch somebody’s imagination → jdn in seinen Bann ziehen; it captures the imagination → es ist faszinierend; to stretch the imagination → große Vorstellungskraft erfordern

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

imagination

[ɪˌmædʒɪˈneɪʃ/ən] n → immaginazione f; (inventiveness) → immaginazione, fantasia
it's all imagination! → sono tutte fantasie!
it's all in your imagination → è tutto frutto della tua immaginazione
to have a vivid imagination → avere una fervida fantasia or una viva immaginazione
she lets her imagination run away with her → si lascia trasportare dalla fantasia
use your imagination! → su, un po' di fantasia!

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

imagine

(iˈmӕdʒin) verb

1. to form a mental picture of (something). I can imagine how you felt.

2. to see or hear etc (something which is not true or does not exist). Children often imagine that there are frightening animals under their beds; You're just imagining things!

3. to think; to suppose. I imagine (that) he will be late.

iˈmaginary adjective

existing only in the mind or imagination; not real. Her illnesses are usually imaginary.

iˌmagiˈnation noun

1. (the part of the mind which has) the ability to form mental pictures. I can see it all in my imagination.

2. the creative ability of a writer etc. This book shows a lot of imagination.

3. the seeing etc of things which do not exist. There was no-one there – it was just your imagination.

iˈmaginative (-nətiv) , ((American) -neitiv) adjective

(negative unimaginative) having, or created with, imagination. an imaginative writer; This essay is interesting and imaginative.

imagination

→ خَيَالٌ představivost fantasi Phantasie φαντασία imaginación mielikuvitus imagination mašta immaginazione 想像 상상 verbeelding fantasi wyobraźnia imaginação воображение fantasi จินตนาการ hayal trí tưởng tượng 想象力

imag·i·na·tion

n. imaginación.

References in classic literature ?

INTELLECT, EMOTION, IMAGINATION, AND RELATED QUALITIES.

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Its distinguishing principle, probability, corresponds to the literal actuality of the photograph and puts it distinctly into the category of reporting; whereas the free wing of the romancer enables him to mount to such altitudes of imagination as he may be fitted to attain; and the first three essentials of the literary art are imagination, imagination and imagination.

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But the reason which leads many to persuade them selves that there is a difficulty in knowing this truth, and even also in knowing what their mind really is, is that they never raise their thoughts above sensible objects, and are so accustomed to consider nothing except by way of imagination, which is a mode of thinking limited to material objects, that all that is not imaginable seems to them not intelligible.

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This imagination was dreadful in itself, but soothing inasmuch as it supposed the safety of my friends.

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Phillips said Minnie Andrews was a model pupil and there isn't a spark of imagination or life in her.

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The imagination of the author must be a child's imagination and yet maturely consistent, so that the White Queen in "Alice," for instance, is seen just as a child would see her, but she continues always herself through all her distressing adventures.

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One of the fathers, in great severity, called poesy vinum daemonum, because it fireth the imagination; and yet, it is but with the shadow of a lie.

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All these baffling head-reaches after immortality are but the panics of souls frightened by the fear of death, and cursed with the thrice-cursed gift of imagination. They have not the instinct for death; they lack the will to die when the time to die is at hand.

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His conception of her was for him a sacred memory, and his future wife was bound to be in his imagination a repetition of that exquisite, holy ideal of a woman that his mother had been.

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"Reveal not only an imagination of intense fire and heat, but an almost finished art--a power of conceiving subtle mental complexities with clearness and of expressing them in a picturesque form and in perfect lyric language.

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They say that none of us exists, except in the imagination of his fellows, other than as an intangible, invisible mentality.

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IN PARTICULAR This Work Is Dedicated By A Humble Native Of Flatland In the Hope that Even as he was Initiated into the Mysteries OF THREE DIMENSIONS Having been previously conversant With ONLY TWO So the Citizens of that Celestial Region May aspire yet higher and higher To the Secrets of FOUR FIVE or EVEN SIX Dimensions Thereby contributing To the Enlargement of THE IMAGINATION And the possible Development Of that most and excellent GIFT of MODESTY Among the Superior Races Of SOLID HUMANITY