idea
English
Etymology
From Latin idea (“a (Platonic) idea; archetype”), from Ancient Greek ἰδέα (idéa, “notion, pattern”), from εἴδω (eídō, “I see”). Cognate with French idée.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /aɪˈdɪə/
- (General American) IPA(key): /aɪˈdi.ə/
- (General American, nonstandard) IPA(key): /aɪˈdɪɹ/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ɪə, -iːə
- Hyphenation: i‧de‧a
Noun
idea (plural ideas or (rare) ideæ)
- (philosophy) An abstract archetype of a given thing, compared to which real-life examples are seen as imperfect approximations; pure essence, as opposed to actual examples. [from 14th c.]
- 2013 October 19, “Trouble at the lab”, in The Economist, volume 409, number 8858:
- The idea that the same experiments always get the same results, no matter who performs them, is one of the cornerstones of science’s claim to objective truth. If a systematic campaign of replication does not lead to the same results, then either the original research is flawed (as the replicators claim) or the replications are (as many of the original researchers on priming contend). Either way, something is awry.
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- (obsolete) The conception of someone or something as representing a perfect example; an ideal. [16th-19th c.]
- (obsolete) The form or shape of something; a quintessential aspect or characteristic. [16th-18th c.]
- 1603, John Florio, transl.; Michel de Montaigne, chapter 6, in The Essayes, […], book II, printed at London: By Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], OCLC 946730821:
- The remembrance whereof (which yet I beare deepely imprinted in my minde) representing me her visage and Idea so lively and so naturally, doth in some sort reconcile me unto her.
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- An image of an object that is formed in the mind or recalled by the memory. [from 16th c.]
- The mere idea of you is enough to excite me.
- More generally, any result of mental activity; a thought, a notion; a way of thinking. [from 17th c.]
- 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 3, in The Celebrity:
- Now all this was very fine, but not at all in keeping with the Celebrity's character as I had come to conceive it. The idea that adulation ever cloyed on him was ludicrous in itself. In fact I thought the whole story fishy, and came very near to saying so.
- 1952, Alfred Whitney Griswold
- Ideas won't go to jail.
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- A conception in the mind of something to be done; a plan for doing something, an intention. [from 17th c.]
- I have an idea of how we might escape.
- A purposeful aim or goal; intent
- If you keep sweet-talking her like that, you're going to talk her right out of her pants.
- Yeah, that's the idea.
- 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 3, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:
- My hopes wa'n't disappointed. I never saw clams thicker than they was along them inshore flats. I filled my dreener in no time, and then it come to me that 'twouldn't be a bad idee to get a lot more, take 'em with me to Wellmouth, and peddle 'em out. Clams was fairly scarce over that side of the bay and ought to fetch a fair price.
- 2013 June 1, “End of the peer show”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, page 71:
- Finance is seldom romantic. But the idea of peer-to-peer lending comes close. This is an industry that brings together individual savers and lenders on online platforms. Those that want to borrow are matched with those that want to lend.
- A vague or fanciful notion; a feeling or hunch; an impression. [from 17th c.]
- He had the wild idea that if he leant forward a little, he might be able to touch the mountain-top.
- (music) A musical theme or melodic subject. [from 18th c.]
Synonyms
- (mental transcript, image, or picture): image
Derived terms
- bad idea
- good idea
- idea'd
- idea man
- it seemed like a good idea at the time
- idea monger
- idea of reference
- idea pot
- life-idea
- memory-idea
- mother-idea
- no idea
- one-idea
- received idea
- sense-idea
- simple idea
- the very idea
Descendants
- Japanese: アイディア (aidia)
Translations
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Further reading
- idea in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- idea in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
Asturian
Etymology
From Latin idea, from Ancient Greek ἰδέα (idéa, “notion, pattern”), from εἴδω (eídō, “I see”).
Catalan
Etymology
From Latin idea, from Ancient Greek ἰδέα (idéa, “notion, pattern”), from εἴδω (eídō, “I see”).
Further reading
- “idea” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
- “idea” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
- “idea” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
- “idea” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
Czech
Etymology
From Latin idea, from Ancient Greek ἰδέα (idéa), from εἴδω (eídō).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ɪdɛa/
Audio (file)
Related terms
- ideace
- idealizace
- idealizovaný
- idealizovat
- ideolog
- ideologický
- ideologie
- ideový
- ideál
- idealista
- idealismus
- ideozločin
Finnish
Etymology
From Latin idea, from Ancient Greek ἰδέα (idéa, “notion, pattern”).
Declension
Inflection of idea (Kotus type 12/kulkija, no gradation) | |||
---|---|---|---|
nominative | idea | ideat | |
genitive | idean | ideoiden ideoitten | |
partitive | ideaa | ideoita | |
illative | ideaan | ideoihin | |
singular | plural | ||
nominative | idea | ideat | |
accusative | nom. | idea | ideat |
gen. | idean | ||
genitive | idean | ideoiden ideoitten ideainrare | |
partitive | ideaa | ideoita | |
inessive | ideassa | ideoissa | |
elative | ideasta | ideoista | |
illative | ideaan | ideoihin | |
adessive | idealla | ideoilla | |
ablative | idealta | ideoilta | |
allative | idealle | ideoille | |
essive | ideana | ideoina | |
translative | ideaksi | ideoiksi | |
instructive | — | ideoin | |
abessive | ideatta | ideoitta | |
comitative | — | ideoineen |
Galician
Etymology
From Latin idea, from Ancient Greek ἰδέα (idéa, “notion, pattern”), from εἴδω (eídō, “I see”).
Hungarian
Etymology
From Latin idea, from Ancient Greek ἰδέα (idéa, “notion, pattern”). [1]
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ˈidɛɒ]
- Hyphenation: idea
Declension
Inflection (stem in long/high vowel, back harmony) | ||
---|---|---|
singular | plural | |
nominative | idea | ideák |
accusative | ideát | ideákat |
dative | ideának | ideáknak |
instrumental | ideával | ideákkal |
causal-final | ideáért | ideákért |
translative | ideává | ideákká |
terminative | ideáig | ideákig |
essive-formal | ideaként | ideákként |
essive-modal | — | — |
inessive | ideában | ideákban |
superessive | ideán | ideákon |
adessive | ideánál | ideáknál |
illative | ideába | ideákba |
sublative | ideára | ideákra |
allative | ideához | ideákhoz |
elative | ideából | ideákból |
delative | ideáról | ideákról |
ablative | ideától | ideáktól |
Possessive forms of idea | ||
---|---|---|
possessor | single possession | multiple possessions |
1st person sing. | ideám | ideáim |
2nd person sing. | ideád | ideáid |
3rd person sing. | ideája | ideái |
1st person plural | ideánk | ideáink |
2nd person plural | ideátok | ideáitok |
3rd person plural | ideájuk | ideáik |
References
- Tótfalusi, István. Idegenszó-tár: Idegen szavak értelmező és etimológiai szótára (A Storehouse of Foreign Words: an explanatory and etymological dictionary of foreign words’). Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó, 2005. →ISBN
Italian
Etymology
From Latin idea, from Ancient Greek ἰδέα (idéa, “notion, pattern”), from εἴδω (eídō, “I see”).
Latin
Etymology
From Ancient Greek ἰδέα (idéa, “notion, pattern”).
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈi.de.a/, [ˈɪ.de.a]
Noun
idea f (genitive ideae); first declension
- idea
- 1719, Johann Jakob Brucker:
- prototype (Platonic)
Inflection
First declension.
Case | Singular | Plural |
---|---|---|
Nominative | idea | ideae |
Genitive | ideae | ideārum |
Dative | ideae | ideīs |
Accusative | ideam | ideās |
Ablative | ideā | ideīs |
Vocative | idea | ideae |
Descendants
References
- idea in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- idea in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
Northern Sami
Inflection
This noun needs an inflection-table template.
Slovak
Etymology
From Latin idea (“a (Platonic) idea; archetype”), from Ancient Greek ἰδέα (idéa, “notion, pattern”), from εἴδω (eídō, “I see”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈidɛa/
Noun
idea f (genitive singular idey, nominative plural idey, genitive plural ideí, declension pattern of idea)
- idea (that which exists in the mind as the result of mental activity)
Declension
Related terms
- ideológ m
- ideologický m
- ideológia f
- ideový m
- ideál m
- idealista m
- idealistický m
- idealizácia f
- idealizmus m
Spanish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /iˈdea/, [iˈðea]
Etymology 1
From Latin idea, from Ancient Greek ἰδέα (idéa, “notion, pattern”), from εἴδω (eídō, “I see”). Compare Portuguese ideia.
Etymology 2
See the etymology of the main entry.
Verb
idea
Further reading
- “idea” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.