Idea, N. - Oxford English Dictionary

12/04/2018 idea, n.
: Oxford English Dictionary
Oxford English Dictionary | The definitive record of

the English language
idea, n.
Pronunciation: Brit. /ʌɪˈdɪə/, U.S. /aɪˈdiə/
Forms: ME ideie, ME ydea, ME ydeye, 15–16 idaea, 15–16 ideae, 15–16 ideae (plural),
15–16 ideaes (plural), 15– idea, 16 idaeae (plural), 16 idaeaes (plural), 16 (18– regional
and nonstandard) ideah, 18 ideer (U.S. regional), 18– idaia (Sc.), 18– (regional and
nonstandard) idear, 19– aideah (U.S. regional (chiefly south. and south Midland)), 19–
idaya (Sc.). See also IDEE n.
Frequency (in current use):
Origin: A borrowing from Latin. Etymon: Latin idea.
Etymology: < classical Latin idea (in Platonic philosophy) eternal archetype, in post-
classical Latin also form, image, likeness (from 8th cent. in British sources), image existing in
the mind (13th cent. in a British source) < ancient Greek ἰδέα form, appearance, kind, sort,
class, (in Platonic philosophy) general or ideal form, archetype, notion < the stem of ἰδεῖν to
see (see WIT v.1) + έα , suffix forming nouns. The Greek word is thus analogous in derivation
and original sense to classical Latin speciēs SPECIES n. ( < specere to see, behold: see SUSPECT
v.). Compare later IDEE n.
In later use influenced semantically by Anglo-Norman idie, Anglo-Norman and Middle French idee, ydee,
French idée (c1119 in Anglo-Norman), whose principal senses include: ‘visible and distinctive form of an
object, archetype’ (c1119), ‘eternal archetype, existing only in the mind, of objects which can be apprehended
with the senses’ (1370), ‘conception or notion of something to be done or carried out’ (1458; apparently rare
before the late 17th cent.), ‘image, form, likeness’ (1487, glossing post-classical Latin idea ), ‘perfect beauty as
embodied in a beloved lady’ (mid 16th cent.; compare sense 3b), ‘image of an object as perceived by the
senses’ (1552), ‘mental image or notion of something previously seen or known’ (1564), ‘conception’ (1583),
‘ideal’ (early 17th cent.; now regional (Walloon)), ‘preliminary sketch’ (1610, originally with reference to a
literary work), ‘whatever is in the mind and directly present to cognitive consciousness’ (1637 in Descartes, in
the passage translated in quot. 1649 at sense 12b), ‘something merely imagined or fancied’ (1651; compare the
similar sense ‘daydream’ (1672; rare), and earlier par idée ‘in imagination’ (1616), en idée (see in idea at
Phrases 1)), ‘sum of a person's thoughts and judgements which constitute an opinion’ (1662), ‘musical theme,
phrase, or figure as conceived or sketched before being worked up in a composition’ (1866 in idée musicale ).

Compare Catalan idea (14th cent.), Spanish idea (early 15th cent.), Portuguese idéia (c1543 as †ydea , 1548 as
†idea ), Italian idea (beginning of the 14th cent.); also Middle Dutch ydee (1465; Dutch idee ), German Idee
(17th cent.; 1528 in Latinate form idea ), Swedish idé (beginning of the 18th cent.; also †idee , †idée ).

The term first entered the modern European languages in senses which were either identical with, or very
similar to, the Platonic sense (see branch I.); sense 3 shows semantic overlap with IDEAL n. The later semantic
development is characterized, in English as well as in other European languages, by two tendencies. On the
http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/90954?result=1&rskey=bn8Qpq&&print 1/22
12/04/2018 idea, n. : Oxford English Dictionary
one hand, a gradual semantic generalization and popularization of the originally philosophical term took
place, leading to partial synonymy with CONCEPT n., NOTION n., THOUGHT n., etc. On the other hand, philosophers
from Descartes onwards developed new senses of the term (see branch III.). Broadly speaking, the specific
philosophical uses in sense 12b developed out of the uses of the word in branch III., and represented a break
with the Platonic tradition in that ideas were now considered to be perceptible by the senses or present in the
mind as the natural objects or contents of human cognitive consciousness in general. On the other hand, the
uses in sense 1 arose by extension of Platonic uses. Sense 1b is largely after Kant's use of German Idee (1781
(in his Kritik der reinen Vernunft) or earlier); in the relevant chapter of that work, entitled Von den Ideen
überhaupt , Kant begins with a critical discussion of Plato's concept of the idea, and goes on to adapt this.
Sense 1c is after Hegel's use of German Idee (1830 (in ed. 3 of his Enzyklopädie der philosophischen
Wissenschaften im Grundrisse) or earlier).

With in idea at Phrases 1 compare Spanish en idea (c1500; first half of the 15th cent. as en la idea ; also
frequently with possessive pronoun: en su idea , etc.), French en idée (1643).

With to have no idea at Phrases 2 compare French n'avoir aucune idée (1815 in colloquial use; already in 17th
cent. in philosophical contexts in sense ‘to have no conception or understanding of (a problem)’; compare
sense 11a).

In form ideie apparently influenced by French; compare later IDEE n.
I. Senses relating to or derived from the Platonic concept of general or

ideal form as distinguished from its realization in individual instances.
1.
a. In Platonic philosophy: an abstract or eternally
existing pattern or archetype of any kind of thing, in

relation to which particular things are conceived as
imperfect copies or approximations, and often as deriving
their existence from it; a nature or essence considered as
existing separately from the particular things which
exemplify it. Also in Theol.: a thought or notion existing,
esp. as an archetype, in the mind of God.
▸ a1398 J. TREVISA tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.

27944) (1975) I. III. iv. 93 Pictogoras clepiþ þe soule armonye, acord of
melody. And Paphinonius clepith it ydea, a maner example.
▸ ?a1439 LYDGATE Fall of Princes (Bodl. 263) IV. l. 1181 In the too scooles of
prudent Socrates And of Plato, which that bar the keie Of secre mysteries &
of dyvyn Ideie [a1475 Harl. 1245 Ideies].
1563 T. GALE Certaine Wks. Chirurg. I. f. 11 As one myght thynke hymselfe ryght
happye, though he neuer dyd attayne to Aristoteles summum bonum, or
Plato his Idæa.

1603 P. HOLLAND tr. Plutarch Morals 813 Idea is a bodilesse substance, which of it
selfe hath no subsistence, but giveth figure and forme unto shapelesse
matters, and becommeth the very cause that bringeth them into shew and
evidence. Socrates and Plato suppose, that these Ideæ bee substances
separate and distinct from Matter, howbeit, subsisting in the thoughts and
imaginations of God—that is to say, of Minde and Understanding.
1652 J. GAULE Πυςμαντια sig. *v Chymericall figments, Platonicall Ideaes,
Cabbalisticall fancies.
1656 T. STANLEY Hist. Philos. II. V. 67 They define Idæa an eternall exemplar of
things which are according to Nature...for Idæas are the eternall notions of
God, perfect in themselves.
1706 tr. R. Rapin Crit. Wks. 376 Ammonius the Scholar of Proclus..wou'd have
these Idea's, according to the Doctrine of Plato, to be Models entirely distinct
and separate from God.
1791 W. ENFIELD Brucker's Hist. Philos. I. II. vii. 229 Visible things were regarded
by Plato as fleeting shades, and Ideas as the only permanent substances.
These he conceived to be the proper objects of science, to a mind raised, by
divine contemplation, above the perpetually varying scenes of the material
world.
1829 N. Amer. Rev. July 110 In Plato, ideas are the archetypes or models of
created things, which dwell eternally in the Divine Mind.
1856 J. F. FERRIER Inst. Metaphysic (ed. 2) VI. xviii. 176 Plato..had merely
succeeded in carrying our cognitions up into certain subordinate unities,
certain inferior universals, called by him ideas.
1885 W. L. DAVIDSON Logic of Definition vi. 145 With Plato, the Idea is ontological
or metaphysical... It is both an objective intelligible existence (‘uncreated
and imperishable’) and a pattern, model, archetype or παράδειγμα.
1920 C. C. J. WEBB Divine Personality & Human Life x. 263 The interpretation of
the Platonic Ideas as the thoughts of God, which commended itself to
Augustine.
1953 M. KLINE Math. in Western Culture iii. 32 Whereas our senses grasp the
passing and the concrete, only the mind can attain the contemplation of
these eternal ideas.
1987 F. MELTZER Salome & Dance of Writing Introd. 7 A carpenter who makes a
bed is imitating the idea of a bed, but the artist who paints an imitation of
the carpenter's bed is thrice removed from the truth.
2004 A. KENNY New Hist. Western Philos. I. i. 50 My subjective concept of the
circle—my understanding of what ‘circle’ means—is not the same as the Idea
of the circle, because the Idea is an objective reality that is not the property
of any individual mind.
b. In Kantian thought: an a priori concept of reason
denoting an object beyond the bounds of possible

experience or empirical knowledge (e.g., the soul, the
world, God), esp. as distinguished from the categories of
the understanding (see CATEGORY n. 1b); an object
corresponding to such a concept.
1797 in tr. J. S. Beck Princ. Crit. Philos. Pref. p. xiii I understand by an idea, a

perfection, to which nothing can be given adequate in experience.
1848 Methodist Q. Rev. Apr. 257 The older Rationalists retain the tenets of
natural religion, particularly the three ideas of Kant, namely, God, liberty,
and immortality.
a1871 G. GROTE Fragm. Ethical Subj. (1876) v. 138 This conception is what Kant
would call an Idea—nothing precisely conformable to it, in its full extent, can
ever exist in reality.
1889 E. CAIRD Crit. Philos. Imanuel Kant II. xiv. 131 The great aim of Criticism..is
to prevent us from mistaking this idea, which is merely a principle for the
organisation of experience, for an actual object beyond experience.
1906 Jrnl. Philos., Psychol. & Sci. Methods 3 497 The third Kantian idea, that of
‘freedom’, he [sc. Plato] never discussed in the modern sense of the problem.
1948 H. J. PATON Categorical Imperative 239 Understanding..is closely bound up
with sense and is directed to the knowing of sensible objects... Reason..by
means of its Ideas..goes far beyond anything which sensibility can offer it as
an object.
1996 A. VAN DEN HOVEN tr. B. Lévy in tr. J.-P. Sartre & B. Lévy Hope Now 113 The
Kantian Idea..expresses the Unconditioned, which is proper to reason.
c. In Hegelian thought: the absolute truth of which all
phenomenal existence is the expression. Frequently in the

Idea.
1838 Penny Cycl. XII. 99/1 Hegel distinguishes three species of thought..1. The
thought...2. The notion...3. The idea, or thought in its totality and fully
determined.
1874 W. WALLACE tr. Hegel Logic §213. 304 The Idea is truth in itself and for
itself,—the absolute unity of the notion and objectivity.
1929 Philos. Rev. 38 352 The Hegelian pantheism of the Idea, panlogism, is the
thesis.
1969 Jrnl. Hist. Ideas 30 86 To say that everything was as it is because it was the
self-development of the Absolute Idea, was to say nothing at all.
1996 M. HANNA Mobilization Intellect iii. 91 For Imbart de la Tour, Hegel's
philosophy of history, with its emphasis on the Idea as an indomitable force
of development and progress, was both monocausal and mechanistic.
2. The conception of a standard or principle to be realized
or aimed at; a conception of what is desirable or ought to

be; a governing conception or principle; the plan or design
according to which something is created or constructed.
Now generally close to, or not readily distinguishable from, sense 4.
a1586 SIR P. SIDNEY Apol. Poetrie (1595) sig. C2 The skil of the Artificer, standeth
in that Idea or fore-conceite of the work.
1596 W. WARNER Albions Eng. (rev. ed.) IX. lii. 237 Scriptures Idea, couched in our
Loue to God and men.
1667 MILTON Paradise Lost VII. 557 To behold this new created World..how good,
how faire, Answering his great Idea .
1692 G. DANIEL Voy. World Cartesius III. 237 He could not find Artists capable of
accomplishing his Design and his Idea with that Exactness as was necessary.
1700 DRYDEN To Dutchess of Ormond in Fables sig. Av If Chaucer by the best Idea
wrought.
1744 J. HARRIS Three Treat. III. II. 203 The true Idea of right Conduct..is not,
merely To live consistently, but 'tis To live consistently with Nature.
1840 J. S. MILL Coleridge in Diss. & Disc. (1859) I. 438 His mode..is to
investigate what he terms the Idea of it, or what in common parlance would
be called the principle involved in it.
1841–8 F. MYERS Catholic Thoughts II. IV. i. 182 The ground-plan of the Universe
—the idea according to which it is.
1858 N. HAWTHORNE Fr. & Ital. Jrnls. II. 7 The statue has been restored,
and..because the idea is perfect and indestructible, all these injuries do
not..impair the effect.
1909 Science 23 July 111/2 The new psychiatric ward... The idea of non-restraint
will be carried out as much as possible.
1928 Jrnl. Royal Instit. Internat. Affairs 7 357 The idea behind the Europasian
movement is not new.
1958 D. LEWIS Alan Davie [Exhib. catal.] 1 The action painter does not begin a
canvas with a preconceived idea.
2005 J. DIAMOND Collapse (2006) ix. 303 Gradually, Japan independently of
Germany developed the idea of plantation forestry: that trees should be
viewed as a slow-growing crop.
†3.
a. The conception of anything in its highest perfection or
supreme development; a standard of perfection; an ideal.

Obs.
1586 T. BOWES in tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. I. Ep. Ded. sig. *iij Rather
an Idæa of good life, than such a platforme as may be drawne from
contemplation into action.
1606 L. BRYSKETT Disc. Ciuill Life 61 Xenophon in his Ciropædia..hauing..vnder
the person of Cirus, framed an idæa or perfect patterne of an excellent
Prince.
1647 A. COWLEY Not Fair in Mistress i I thought you once as fair, As women in th'
Idæa are.
a1682 SIR T. BROWNE Christian Morals (1716) I. 33 How widely we are fallen from
the pure Exemplar and Idea of our Nature.
1726 BP. J. BUTLER 15 Serm. iii. 45 Add to these the superior faculty..and you
compleat the Idea of Humane Nature.
1844 E. B. BROWNING Drama of Exile in Poems I. 3 Thou [sc. Lucifer] shalt be an
Idea to all souls..whence to mark despair, And measure out the distances
from good.
1868 W. COLLINS Moonstone I. x. 137 The proper way to breed bulls was to look
deep into your own mind, evolve out of it the idea of a perfect bull, and
produce him.
1891 R. HOVEY Launcelot & Guenevere (heading) The Galahad, or masculine idea
of purity.
b. A person or thing regarded as perfect in its kind; the
ideal realized in an individual. Obs.

Cf. sense 13.
1590 R. GREENE Neuer too Late I. 12 I questioned him of the order of his life, who
answered me with such curtesie and humilitie as I perceiued in his words the
perfit Idea of a mortified man.
1591 Troublesome Raigne Iohn II. sig. D3v Was euer any so infortunate, The right
Idea of a curssed man?
1601 P. ROSSETER Bk. of Ayres II. ii. sig. H It is th'Idæa of her sexe, Enuie of
whome doth world perplexe.
1627 T. JACKSON Treat. Catholike Faith 78 Christ,..was the Idea of legall Nazarites.
1651 J. SAINT-AMARD tr. F. Micanzio Life Father Paul p. lxv, in P. Sarpi Hist.

Council of Trent (1676) The most excellent Senate (the very Idea of politick
Christian prudence).
4. A conception or notion of something to be done or
carried out; an intention, plan of action.
1617 F. MORYSON Itinerary II. 245 You had alwaies in your owne judgement the
certaine Idea thereof, as a thing that you resolved to doe.
1644 MILTON Of Educ. 1 That voluntary Idea, which hath long in silence presented
it self to me, of a better Education..then hath been yet in practice.
1770 E. BURKE Let. 15 Aug. in Corr. (1960) II. 150 The Idea of short parliaments,
is..plausible enough; so is the idea of an Election by Ballot.
1798 J. ROOT Rep. Superior Court & Supreme Court of Errors 1 44 If this
performance meets with approbation..the author has it in idea to publish a
second volume.
1842 F. MARRYAT Percival Keene I. xviii. 284 The idea came into my head, that I
would singe the purser's wig.
1861 J. G. HOLLAND Lessons in Life i. 12 We hear of women who are suddenly
seized by an idea, as if it were a colic.
1911 H. P. STEVENS & C. BEADLE Rubber ii. 13 Sometimes the rubber plants are set
amongst matured coffee or tea, with the idea of..gradually transforming a tea
or coffee estate into a rubber estate.
1955 T. WILLIAMS Let. 12 June in Five O'Clock Angel (1991) 117 I do wish you
would have the bedroom chaise covered for us, I like the green velvet idea.
1998 A. TAYLOR Suffocating Night xxxii. 215 As he lay there..an idea came to
him... Suddenly he saw the way..to escape his immediate problems.
2005 N. GERSHENFELD FAB 62 He wanted to test an idea he'd had for an invention
but never been able to make.
†5. A pattern, type; the original of which something else is
a copy; a preliminary sketch or draft; something in an

undeveloped state. Obs.
1648 B. GERBIER Interpreter Acad. Forrain Langs. I. 174 A daughter had caused a

basket with store of houshold things to be braught at her Tombe, about
which basket in proces of time was grone Acante-leaves, which gaue to an
Architectour the Idea to make the Corinthian head.
1669 T. GALE Court of Gentiles: Pt. I I. Introd. 1 Some rude Idea or first lines
thereof were drawn many years past in mine Academic Studies.
1670 S. WILSON Lassels's Voy. Italy (new ed.) I. 188 This was the first Cupola in
Europe; and therefore the more admirable for hauing no Idea after which it
was framed.
1677 T. GALE Court of Gentiles: Pt. III III. 127 Those Pagan, Jewish, and Gnostic
Antichrists..as forerunners and ideas of the great Roman Antichrist.
1692 J. RAY Dissol. World (1732) iv. 57 Those Ideas or Embryos may be..marred
or deformed in the womb.
1716 W. WISHART Theologia (1787) xii. 421 He is the unchangeable archetype and
idea of all true things without himself.
1798 A. F. M. WILLICH Elements Crit. Philos. 39 A bare idea of a possible science,
which is no where given in concreto.
6. Music. A musical theme, phrase, or figure as conceived
or sketched before being worked up in a composition.
1771 Philos. Trans. 1770 (Royal Soc.) 60 59 He was often visited with musical
ideas, to which, even in the midst of the night, he would give utterance on
his harpsichord.
1845 E. HOLMES Life Mozart 253 The bravura passages should subserve good
musical ideas.
1880 G. GROVE Dict. Music I. 165 [Beethoven's] sketch-books of that time are
crammed with ideas.
1944 D. TOVEY Chamber Music i. 2 Beethoven's sketches for this opusculum are
entangled with ideas of a fugal opening which afterwards took shape in the
scherzo of the Ninth Symphony.
1963 A. BARAKA Blues People ix. 139 Jazz..had already developed further, aided by
the architectonic and technical ideas of ragtime, into a more completely
autonomous music.
1971 B. SIDRAN Black Talk v. 136 They felt Coleman did not know how to play his
horn because it sounded as if he rarely played to the same musical idea
twice.
1987 R. S. BRINDLE New Music (ed. 2) ix. 81 Except for the occasional quotation of
prearranged musical ideas, players extemporize in a very free manner.
2005 New Yorker 19 Sept. 91/2 He always carried a pad and a pencil in his coat
pocket to catch the fleeting musical ideas he called ‘jots’.
†II. Senses denoting a perceptible form or figure.
7. A representation, likeness, image, symbol (of
something). Obs.
1531 T. ELYOT Bk. named Gouernour I. xxii. sig. Liii I haue..noted daunsinge to be

of an excellent utilitie, comprehendinge in it wonderfull figures, or, as the
grekes do calle them, Ideae, of vertues and noble qualities.
1597 SHAKESPEARE Richard III III. vii. 13 I did inferre your lineaments, Beyng the
right Idea of your father, Both in your forme and noblenesse of

minde.
1601 B. JONSON Every Man in his Humor I. ii. sig. C Let the Idea of what you are,

be portraied in your aspect.
1651 J. FRENCH Art Distillation To Rdr. sig. *3 The Idea of a plant [may be made]
to appear in a glasse, as if the very plant it selfe were there.
1707 tr. P. Le Lorrain de Vallemont Curiosities in Husbandry & Gardening 325
When a Body is..reduc'd into Ashes, we find again in the Salts, extracted
from its Ashes, the Idea, the Image, and the Phantom of the same Body.
1714 SWIFT Some Free Thoughts upon Present State Affairs (1741) 16 A Ship's
Crew quarrelling in a Storm..is but a feint Idea of this fatal Infatuation.
8. An inherent form; configuration, shape. Also: a
defining characteristic; aspect, nature, character. Obs.
1594 T. BLUNDEVILLE Exercises III. I. ii. f. 135 The chiefe Idea or shape of Gods
minde, which hath neither beginning nor ending, and therefore is compared
to a Circle.
1653 H. MORE Antidote against Atheism in Coll. Philos. Writings (1712) II. v. 54
Other solid Figures, which though they be not Regular, properly so called,
yet have a settled Idea and Nature, as a Cone, Sphear, or Cylinder.
1677 T. GALE Court of Gentiles: Pt. III III. 26 To demonstrate the vanitie of
Philosophie from its own essential Idea or Nature.
1737 S. BERINGTON Mem. G. di Lucca 211 To return to the Idea of their
Government, each Father of a Family governs all his Descendants.
1799 R. KIRWAN Geol. Ess. v. 156 In common language, mountains are
distinguished from hills only by annexing to them the idea of a superior
height.
9. A figure of speech or rhetoric; a form or way of
speaking. Obs. rare.
1642 MILTON Apol. Smectymnuus i Whether a vehement vein throwing out

indignation or scorn upon an object that merits it, were among the aptest
ideas of speech to be allowed.
III. Senses relating to the mind without necessarily implying an external

manifestation.
10. The mental image or notion of something previously
seen or known, recalled by the memory.
1579 T. NORTH tr. D. Acciaiuoli in tr. Plutarch Liues 1132 Hamilcar..compelled

Annibal being but a boy, to sweare..that he would be a mortal enemy to the
Romanes... So, the remembrance of these things were still fresh in the young
mans minde, as the Idea (or image) of his fathers hate.
1589 R. GREENE Menaphon sig. D3v Me thinkes the Idea of her person represents
it selfe an obiect to my fantasie.
1600 SHAKESPEARE Much Ado about Nothing IV. i. 226 Th' Idæa [printed Th Idæa]

of her life shall sweetly creepe, Into his study of imagination.
1662 J. DAVIES tr. A. Olearius Voy. & Trav. Ambassadors 220 After he had
earnestly view'd the Boy, and by that means Imprinted an Idea of him in his
imagination.
1749 H. FIELDING Tom Jones V. XIII. xi. 91 Though I despaired of possessing you..I
doated still on your charming Idea .
1764 S. FOOTE Mayor of Garret I. 19 Oh, madam, I can never be alone; your sweet
idea [printed idera] will be my constant companion.
1803 W. TAYLOR in Monthly Mag. 14 487 I shut my eyes, and call up the idea of a
sunshiny landscape.
1819 SCOTT Bride of Lammermoor ii, in Tales of my Landlord 3rd Ser. III. 15 The
idea of her mother's presence seemed to have slipped from the unhappy
girl's recollection.
1846 N. HAWTHORNE Mosses from Old Manse II. 123 The mention of those two
policemen, and their custody of Bonaparte, had called up the idea of that
odious wretch..who was pleased to take such gratuitous and impertinent
care of my person, before I quitted New England.
1872 Pop. Sci. Monthly Oct. 674 It must indeed be some strong temptation that
would induce one to defile one's hands by contact with a creature [sc. a
house spider] the very idea of which suffices to inspire terror and disgust.
1918 W. CATHER My Ántonia IV. iv. 363 The idea of you is a part of my mind; you
influence my likes and dislikes, all my tastes, hundreds of times even when I
don't realize it.
1945 E. P. EARNEST Foreword to Lit. iv. 83 Walking upon the beach brings up the
idea of mermaids.
1988 A. J. B. KEMPERS Kettledrums of Southeast Asia xiii. 234 The sculptor may
have been inspired by the natural shape of a large stone that conjured up the
idea of one of those subjects that fitted into his conceptual world.
2001 R. ANGEL Twice Removed 61 A bright horizon, the mere idea of you, so
weirdly high upon the page.
11.
a. Usually with of: a picture or notion of something
formed in the mind independently of direct memory; a

conception.
1585 R. GREENE Planetomachia sig. G3 It is the Idea of her person, which by a
secret imagination, is imprinted in thy minde, that hath pearced thy heart.
1612 J. BRINSLEY Ludus Lit. vii. 84 To haue an Idæa or generall notion of all in
their heads.
1616 J. BULLOKAR Eng. Expositor Idea, the forme or figure of any thing conceiued
in the minde.
1651 T. HOBBES Leviathan IV. xliv. 334 Men that are utterly deprived from their
Nativity, of the light of the bodily Eye, have no Idea at all, of any such light.
1662 J. DAVIES tr. A. Olearius Voy. & Trav. J. Albert de Mandelslo 284 in Voy. &
Trav. Ambassadors Of this place I had heard so much..that I had framed to
my self a certain Idæa of its greatnesse.
1714 POPE Rape of Lock (new ed.) I. 6 Then gay Ideas crowd the vacant Brain,
While Peers and Dukes, and all their sweeping Train..appear.
1759 JOHNSON Prince of Abissinia II. xlvii. 160 What space does the idea of a
pyramid occupy more than the idea of a grain of corn?
1801 S. T. COLERIDGE Coll. Lett. (1956) II. 691 I have a sufficient Idea of Winter
Cole so far as it enables me to distinguish it from Brocoli.
1857 F. D. MAURICE Epist. St. John xv. 242 This is the completest idea of love, the
only complete idea we can have.
1899 H. VAN DYKE Fisherman's Luck 101 The matinée girl is not likely to have a
very luminous or truthful idea of existence floating around in her pretty
head.
1930 E. A. RHEINHARDT Life E. Duse vii. 147 One can get an idea of how much she
made the part her own by comparing accounts like the preceding with the
original text.
1948 Mind 57 298 The idea of a mile or a day is an everyday idea.
1999 C. MENDELSON Home Comforts i. 4/2 In one home, brows were raised and
lips curled at the very idea of redeye gravy; in the other, at the very idea of
garlic.
b. depreciative. A conception to which no reality
corresponds; something merely imagined or fancied.

Usually with modifying word, as mere.
1593 T. LODGE Phillis sig. E The vaine Idea of this dietie nust at the teate of thine
Imagination: Was bred brought, vp by thine owne vanitie.
1598 SHAKESPEARE Love's Labour's Lost IV. ii. 68 A foolish extrauagant spirit, full
of formes, figures, shapes, obiectes, Ideas, aprehentions.
1622 G. WITHER Fairevirtue sig. F7 Is it possible that I, Who scarce heard of
Poesie; Should a meare Idea raise, To as true a pitch of praise, As the learned
Poets could?
1630 W. PRYNNE AntiArminianisme 156 Which make..Predestination a meere
Idæa.
1720 D. WATERLAND 8 Serm. Divinity of Christ 199 Not so destitute
of..understanding, as to take the Substance of Father, or Son, to be an
abstract Idea.
1765 LD. KAMES Elements Crit. (ed. 3) II. xxiv. 455 Number is not a real quality,
but merely an idea [1762 (ed. 1) a conception] that arises upon viewing a
plurality of things in succession.
1871 R. W. DALE Ten Commandm. i. 32 To the Jews, Jehovah was not a mere idea
or a system of attributes.
1928 E. L. SCHAUB Philos. Today 116 Is Alma Mater a mere idea of fiction? Is it
subjective?
1966 E. F. J. PAYNE tr. A. Schopenhauer World as Will & Representation I. 207
Both these are the case if it is mere ideas and fantasies that we allow to act
on the will.
2003 B. WARNER Hardcore Zen 133 Past and future are just ideas. When there is
no past and no future, the question of life after death in any form including
reincarnation becomes entirely irrelevant.
12.
a. More widely: any product of mental apprehension or
activity, existing in the mind as an object of knowledge or

thought; an item of knowledge or belief; a thought, a
theory; a way of thinking.
1633 W. LITHGOW Scotlands Welcome Prol. sig. *v O! thank mee, and be pleasd;
whylst I avouch, The commoun sorrowes, of this groaning Land, Which I lay
open, to thyne open hand: Then ponder, and peruse it, thou shalst fynd, The
Sole Idea, of thy Countreyes Mynd.
1650 J. HOWELL Addit. Lett. xxvi. 42 in Epistolæ Hoelianæ (ed. 2) One shall
hardly find two in ten thousand that have exactly..the same tone of voice,..or
idæas of mind.
1690 R. BOYLE Christian Virtuoso I. 104 Either Congenite, or very easily and very
early Acquir'd Notions and Idæas.
1726 SWIFT Cadenus & Vanessa 25 Ideas came into her Mind So fast, his Lessons
lagg'd behind.
1742 S. RICHARDSON Pamela (ed. 3) IV. lxi. 488 The antient Romans..would not
assign Punishments to certain atrocious Crimes, because they had such a
high Idea of human Nature, as to suppose it incapable of committing them.
1785 T. REID Ess. Intellect. Powers 36 In popular language idea signifies the same
thing as conception, apprehension, notion.
1822 W. HAZLITT Tabletalk II. iv. 60 People who have no ideas of their own are
glad to hear what any one else has to say.
1888 J. INGLIS Tent Life Tigerland 245 The marvellous way in which Western
ideas are making progress in the minds of the natives.
1922 J. JOYCE Ulysses II. 158 Why do they call that thing they gave me nutsteak?
Nutarians. Fruitarians. To give you the idea you are eating rumpsteak.
1959 A. BESTER Sci. Fiction Novel 104 The ideas of fourth dimension, time travel,
outer space, microcosm and macrocosm, were fascinating.
1964 M. A. K. HALLIDAY et al. Ling. Sci. 49 The Chinese script is not ideographic:
the symbols do not represent ideas, they represent formal items of the
language.
1964 J. BERNSTEIN Analyt. Engine (1965) ii. 42 Babbage was full of most ingenious
ideas.
2004 E. CONLON Blue Blood v. 163 As we fused together as a team, our growing
devotion to the idea of all-for-one, one-for-all did not always work to our
practical advantage.
b. In the philosophy of Descartes, and esp. in the
empiricist tradition of Locke, Berkeley, Hume, etc.: any of

the contents of the mind, esp. those directly present to
cognitive consciousness; anything a person thinks, feels,
or imagines. Also: an immediate object of thought,
perception, imagination, etc. Now chiefly hist. as a
philosophical term of art.
In non-historical use now usually in association of ideas at ASSOCIATION n. 7a.
1649 tr. Descartes Disc. Method V. 90 How light, sounds, smels, tasts, heat, and
all other qualities of exteriour objects, might imprint severall Ideas [Fr.
idées] by means of the senses.
1666 Philos. Trans. 1665–6 (Royal Soc.) 1 325 The Arguments devised against

Atheists by Des Cartes, and drawn from the Idea's of our Mind.
1690 J. LOCKE Ess. Humane Understanding I. ii. 3 I must here in the Entrance
beg Pardon..for the frequent use of the Word Idea... It being that Term,
which, I think, serves best to stand for whatsoever is the Object of the
Understanding when a Man thinks, I have used it to express..whatever it is,
which the Mind can be employ'd about in thinking.
1709 G. BERKELEY Ess. New Theory of Vision §45. 51 When I speak of Tangible
Ideas, I take the Word Idea for any the immediate Object of Sense, or
Understanding.
1725 I. WATTS Logick I. iii. §1 There has been a great controversy about the origin
of ideas, viz. Whether any of our ideas are innate or no, that is, born with us,
and naturally belonging to our minds. Mr. Locke utterly denies it; others as
positively affirm it.
1739 D. HUME Treat. Human Nature I. I. 12 By ideas I mean the faint images of
these [impressions] in thinking and reasoning.
1762 LD. KAMES Elements Crit. III. App. 382 This indistinct secondary perception
of an object, is termed an idea.
1839 H. HALLAM Introd. Lit. Europe IV. iii. 275 The leading doctrine of Locke, as
is well known, is the derivation of all our ideas from sensation and from
reflection.
1843 J. S. MILL Syst. Logic II. IV. ii. §i The metaphysical inquiry into the nature
and composition of what have been called Abstract Ideas.
1879 T. H. HUXLEY Hume iv. 90 Of the mechanism of this generation of images of
impressions or ideas (in Hume's sense), which may be termed Ideation, we
know nothing.
1967 Brit. Jrnl. Psychiatry 113 806/2 The ‘Identity Hypothesis’..seeks to relate
phenomenal objects, i.e. ideas, sensations, sense-data, etc., to physical
objects or entities which exist independently of experience..; mental events
being no more than the epiphenomena of brain-events.
1971 J. BENNETT Locke, Berkeley, Hume vi. 139 It is fundamental to his thought
that Berkeley repeatedly explains ‘sensible things’ or ‘objects’ as things that
can be perceived, and contends that nothing can be perceived except ideas.
2007 D. ALLEN & E. O. SPRINGSTED Philos. for Understanding Theol. (ed. 2) viii.
137 Locke shared with Descartes the belief that what we are directly aware
of is ideas, and that some of them represent objects external to us.
c. A notion or thought that is more or less implausible,
indefinite, or fanciful; a vague belief, opinion, or estimate;

a supposition, impression, fancy.
1660 J. DAUNCEY Hist. Charles II 195 Some ambitious spirits there were, and
particularly Maj. General Lambert, whose high-flown thoughts made him
fancy Idea's in his brain, and forc't him to attempt the enterprising to make
him Commander of these three Nations.
1678 R. CUDWORTH True Intellect. Syst. Universe I. i. 29 The different Phancies in
us, caused by the respective Differences of them..Which Phancies or
Phantastick Idea's are [etc.].
1712 W. ROGERS Cruising Voy. 338 To give them an ill Idea of all those they..call
Hereticks.
1737 S. BERINGTON Mem. G. di Lucca 62 The vast Ideas they had of their own
Nation, valuing themselves above all other People.
1790 E. BURKE Refl. Revol. in France 44 The very idea of the fabrication of a new

government, is enough to fill us with disgust and horror.
1836 Franklin Repository (Chambersburg, Pa.) 4 Oct. 1/3 I've an idea, my man,
that you are one of the wharf rats; and, if so, the less lip you give me the
better.
1852 H. B. STOWE Uncle Tom's Cabin II. xxvi. 99 ‘You believe, don't you, that
Topsy could become an angel..if she were a Christian?’ ‘Topsy! what a
ridiculous idea!’
1861 DICKENS Great Expectations I. xi. 170 So like Matthew! The idea!
1904 St. Nicholas July 819/1 The idea of a beggarly Yankee cod-hauler having
mutton when his Majesty's officers are living on salt horse and pea-soup!
1932 E. LE GALLIENNE & F. FRIEBUS Alice in Wonderland I. 73 [Queen] No, no!
sentence first; verdict afterwards... [Alice] Stuff and nonsense! The idea of
having the sentence first!
1953 R. POSTGATE Ledger is Kept (1958) 48 Was she having a baby? Could it be—
what an idea!—Henry's? That stuffy, tetchy oppressed bachelor having fun
with the skivvy in the back bedroom.
2004 M. LANYADO Presence of Therapist II. vi. 91 He had an idea that when the
train came to the end of the track, it risked ‘falling into the water’—which
was why more track had to be added.
13. After a possessive and with of: a person's conception
of an ideal, typical, or adequate example of the person or

thing specified.
1664 H. MORE Modest Enq. Myst. Iniquity II. xvii. 174 I think it very convenient,

before I proceed to the Application of my Idea of Antichristianism, to make a
more exquisite search into the Prophecies.
1742 H. FIELDING Joseph Andrews I. I. x. 57 To indicate our Idea of a simple

Fellow, That he is easily to be seen through: Nor do I believe it a more
improper Denotation of a simple Book.
1753 T. GRAY Let. in Wks. (1884) II. 234 I am surprised at the print, which far
surpasses my idea of London graving.
1797 R. CLIFFORD tr. A. Barruel Mem. Hist. Jacobinism I. xii. 194 Now..we are
acquainted with Frederick's idea of a prince, The very reverse of being
superstitious and who reads Voltaire's works as much as he is able.
1822 T. MITCHELL in tr. Aristophanes Comedies II. Pref. p. vi A dramatic
tetralogue, developing, in the author's peculiar manner, his idea of a people-
king.
1869 G. MEREDITH Let. 19 Dec. (1970) I. 406 His idea of a profession is, he says
modestly, that of Philologer.
1903 G. B. SHAW Man & Superman III. 111 Is that your idea of a woman's mind? I
call it cynical and disgusting materialism.
1919 E. O'NEILL In Zone in Moon of Caribbees (1923) 22 If this is your idea of a
joke I'll have to confess it's a bit too thick for me to enjoy.
1933 E. O'NEILL Ah, Wilderness! I. 23 Gosh, he's always reading now. It's not my
idea of having a good time in vacation.
1969 Listener 10 July 39/3 He would not be everyone's idea of a military dictator.
2002 D. AITKENHEAD Promised Land iv. 42 My idea of beautiful is a big hairy
lumberjack type, and fun is being tied up in a dungeon with a bottle of
poppers duct-taped to my nose.
PHRASES
P1. in idea: in conception or imagination; in mind, in
thought, often as opposed to reality; †also with possessive

adjective.
1622 J. MABBE tr. M. Alemán Rogue II. I. i. 2 Albeit..I were such an arrant Asse and
Coxe-combe, as you forsooth in your Idea would forme me to be [Sp. Aunque
tan malo, qual tienes de mi formada idea, no puedo persuadirme que sea
cierta].
a1637 B. JONSON Magnetick Lady Induct. 105 in Wks. (1640) III The Author..hath
phant'sied to himselfe, in Idæa, this Magnetick Mistris.
1701 J. NORRIS Ess. Ideal World I. ii. 16 Men talk..of things in idea..a line in idea, a
circle in idea.
1797 J. SHARP Life & Tragic Death F. G. Meyer. iii. 77 Murder..a crime that is so

facilely associated with the occupation of a house-breaker, not only in idea,
but frequently in fact.
1807 BYRON Childish Recoll. 45 Bright in idea gleams thy lofty spire.
1830 BARONESS BUNSEN in A. J. C. Hare Life & Lett. Baroness Bunsen (1879) I. ix.
347 How many vignettes did I make in my idea for my intended letter?
1859 A. BAIN Emotions & Will xiii. 229 We have been careful to note this character
of continuance, or recoverability in idea, as belonging to each in a greater or
less degree.
1907 F. HARRISON Philos. Common Sense p. xxviii The synthesis is necessarily dual,
or often trinal, in idea.
1957 N.Z. Listener 22 Nov. 4/2 We know what a ‘mere’..or a ‘hangi’ is, but they
remain essentially Maori in idea.
2003 J. MILAM in M. Hyde & J. Milam Women, Art, & Politics of Identity in 18th
Cent. Europe vi. 129 Adélaïde would be placed in the center, framed by her
older sisters, in fact or in idea.
P2. to have no idea: (a) colloq. to be unable to
understand, imagine, or explain; often in phrase you have

no idea; (b) (with that-clause) not to anticipate or expect
(a situation or occurrence).
1782 F. BURNEY Cecilia II. IV. vi. 202 I assure you when I got home my feet were all
blisters. You have no idea how they smarted.
1784 J. BADCOCK Let. 2 Feb. in Gentleman's Mag. Sept. (1789) 777/2 I had no idea
that the few Remarks I made would have led me into so serious a controversy.
1816 J. AUSTEN Emma I. iv. 62 I had no idea that he could be so very clownish, so
totally without air.
1852 E. RUSKIN Let. 17 Apr. in Effie in Venice (1965) II. 298 In two days he got it
done and they are grateful you have no idea.
1866 G. MACDONALD Ann. Quiet Neighb. (1878) xxx. 523 I had no idea you would be
flooded.
1916 ‘TAFFRAIL’ Pincher Martin vii. 114 He's that conceited, you've no idea.
1949 M. ROYDEN in A. H. Compton et al. Man's Destiny in Eternity iii. 51 They had
no idea that future readers would suppose them to be writing an exact history.
1960 C. DAY LEWIS Buried Day v. 91 What caused this gun-shyness, I have no idea.
2004 K. LONG Bad Mother's Handbk. (2005) iv. 89 You have no idea how long it's
been going on! You miss what's right under your nose.
P3. colloq.
a. to put ideas into (also in) a person's head (also
to give a person ideas): to give a person notions of a

particular kind, usually considered undesirable or harmful.
1810 Lady's Monthly Museum Dec. 314 These hints naturally put ideas in the
heads of the young people.
1840 J. R. WADDINGTON Monk & Married Man II. xix. 300 Don't go and put any
absurd ideas of prudence into Mr. Allison's head.
1854 P. B. ST. JOHN Arctic Crusoe xxii. 178 What is the use of putting ideas in the
head of that poor savage?
1910 H. G. WELLS Hist. Mr. Polly ix. 262 If I leave her a moment he's talking to her,
teaching her words and giving her ideas!
1935 M. DE LA ROCHE Young Renny xiv. 123 Mary has washed this child's offering. It
will put these new germy ideas in his head.
1959 Punch 8 Apr. 474/1 Of all the nannyisms that have constrained the English
middle classes the most inhibiting has been that favourite injunction about
not putting ideas into the child's head.
1989 T. PARKER Place called Bird viii. 98 There's one or two folk..would have been
wise if they'd followed his example and not started giving themselves fancy
ideas.
2009 School Libr. Jrnl. (Nexis) 1 Feb. 18 I wouldn't put it past some enterprising
rights holders to try to make folks buy one [sc. a licence]—so don't give them
any ideas!
b. to get ideas (into one's head) (also to have
ideas): to conceive notions of a particular kind, usually

undesirable or harmful; spec. to entertain a notion or
intention of being rebellious, violent, etc.
1814 LADY MORGAN O'Donnel I. vi. 207 When the lower order of Irish are educated,
and get ideas, and all that sort of thing, there is an end of the country.
c1848 F. A. KEMBLE Let. in Rec. Later Life (1882) III. 322 A young boy..brought up
in a girl's convent, and taken out for a week, during which he..sups and gets
tipsy at the mess, and, in short, ‘gets ideas’ of all sorts.
1932 H. C. WYLD Universal Dict. Eng. Lang. To get ideas into one's head, to
cherish illusions.
1935 J. C. SQUIRE Refl. & Mem. 10 Babus would get ideas into their heads, but the
Mutiny had taught its lesson and the redcoat had the situation well in hand.
1941 I. BAIRD He rides Sky 146 That's the second happy couple I've seen busted up
in a month and it's cured me if I ever had ideas. I'd no more marry with a war
on than jump over the moon.
1955 W. C. GAULT Ring around Rosa xiii. 156 Don't get any ideas, Callahan. This is
an easy trigger.
1981 B. ASHLEY Dodgem vi. 134 If I tell you to put your arm round me an' act all
lovey, just do it—an' don't get no ideas.
2005 Z. SMITH On Beauty 151 Remember that time she took a class on a bench by
the river? She get some crazy ideas sometimes. Is it an emergency?
P4. colloq. that's the idea: used as confirmation or
encouragement that someone has understood something or

is doing something correctly.
1837 Yale Literary Mag. Oct. 29 What shall I write—philosophy—metaphysics—

poetry? Ah! that's the idea.
1870 Our Boys & Girls 5 Feb. 85/2 ‘Run out into the lake, where you will get the
full force of the wind.’ ‘That's the idea! I was just thinking of doing that.’
1913 L. F. BAUM Patchwork Girl of Oz v. 336 That's the idea, Scraps... I'm glad to
find you have decent brains.
1971 B. W. ALDISS Soldier Erect 125 ‘Hello, sweetheart. You like jig-jig?’ ‘That's the
idea. Let's look at you first’... She said something... All we had in common was
the word, the call-sign, ‘jig-jig’.
2007 D. ALLOSSO Outside Box 148 ‘That's the idea. You're gettin' it,’ she said. ‘Yeah.
My mom would die if she saw me,’ Reid answered.
P5. colloq. it's (or that's) an idea, etc.: used to express
approval of a suggestion as being worthy of consideration

or capable of realization.
1841 S. WARREN Ten Thousand aYear I. xii. 355 That's an idea !—I call that a
decided idea, Gammon. 'Twould be the very thing !
1897 G. GISSING Whirlpool I. vi. 58 Honolulu—by Jove! it's an idea. I should like to
see those islands myself.
1914 G. B. SHAW Misalliance 27 Thats an idea. Thats a new idea. I believe I ought to
have made Johnny an author.
1942 A. CHRISTIE Body in Libr. i. 19 It might be. It's an idea, Jane.
1973 K. GILES File on Death i. 16 ‘I suppose I can take my Sergeant.’..‘It might be an
idea... Your Sergeant might wheedle his way where Chief Inspectors fear to
tread.’
2001 Independent 16 Jan. (Network Plus section) 7/8 ‘That's an idea! I shall be
drinking myself to a standstill,’ she says hooting with laughter.
P6. colloq. (orig. U.S.). big (also great) idea: a
purpose, intention. Frequently in ironic phrase what's

the big (also great) idea?
1846 Independent Amer. & Gen. Advertiser (Platteville, Wisconsin) 16 Jan. 1/4 I've

a big idea to gin you an account of some fun I had with an old bar, on the
Missouri.
1908 G. H. LORIMER Jack Spurlock vii. 151 That's not the Big Idea, I know; it's the
idiotic one, but the market for idiocy is unlimited.
1917 Black Cat June 7/1 ‘What's the great idea?’ insisted Peel. ‘You can't get rid of
the stuff there!’
1928 Sat. Evening Post (N.Y.) 12 May 22/1 ‘Listen, big boy,’ he protested,..‘what's
the big idea in this potato contest?’
1941 Weimar (Texas) Mercury 26 Dec. ‘What's the great idea?’ he snapped. ‘What
do you think you are doing?’
1962 P. GREGORY Like Tigress at Bay vii. 76 Jill entered, her face pale. ‘What was
the big idea?’
2006 E. GIFFIN Baby Proof (2007) xiv. 158 ‘What's the big idea?’ I say, knowing
exactly what his big idea is.
COMPOUNDS
C1. General attrib.
idea book n. [originally after German IdeenBuch (1795
in the passage translated in quot. 1865)]
1865 C. T. BROOKS tr. J. P. F. Richter Hesperus II. xxxvi. 281 He must first get him a
generalissimo who shall command and array this immeasurable, fluctuating
host of ideas, a compositor who shall set up the idea-book [Ger. IdeenBuch]
from an unknown manuscript.
1965 Midwest Jrnl. Polit. Sci. 9 196 The author of the book does not report new
empirical research on the issues he is raising. It is more an idea book.
2003 C. EDWARDS Beautiful Builtins Introd. p. x It can be a great idea book for
remodelers, interior designers, or homeowners.
ideamonger n.
1728 BP. P. BROWNE Procedure Human Understanding III. vi. 438 The Mind having
thus proceeded to the utmost Bounds of things merely Natural, let us stop a
while here, to behold it at this Stage of its Progress; and to observe all our
Idea-Mongers daily loading it with Fetters and Shackels.
1840 H. REEVE tr. A. de Tocqueville Democracy in Amer. III. I. xiv. 123 For some
few great authors..you may reckon thousands of idea-mongers.
1923 Glasgow Herald 25 Jan. 4/2 Mr. Wells is a prolific idea-monger.
2004 P. CAFARO Thoreau's Living Ethics 192 Of course, Thoreau as idea-monger
must entice people into listening to him.
idea politics n.
1896 Daily News 26 Apr. 6/1 Mr. H...detests ‘idea’ politics and Republican
‘sentiments’ of every kind.
1995 L. A. HIGHLEYMAN in N. Tucker Bisexual Polit. I. 74 The flip side of identity
politics might be called idea politics.
idea pot n.
1751 Student II. 295 Going t'other day to the bookseller's with my idea-pot brim-
full, and ready to run over, I stole up..into the Author's Coenabulum.
1796 COLERIDGE in J. Cottle Early Recoll. (1837) I. 171 No poor fellow's idea-pot ever
bubbled up so vehemently with fears, doubts, and difficulties.
1840 Monthly Mag. July 56 And, thanks to my planets, fell plump on my head ;
Souse came my idea-pot against a great stone.
1999 G. MORRIS Small Gardens iv. 37 A peek at the creativity others have poured
into settings like yours will stir up the idea pot.
C2. Instrumental, as ideaintoxicated adj.
1891 Pall Mall Gaz. 10 Oct. 2/3 In most art matters we are quite eighteen years
behind our idea-intoxicated neighbours.
1997 L. A. HOFFMAN in C. Ochs et al. Paths of Faithfulness 60 European cafes were
once packed with idea-intoxicated Jews who spoke only of Herzl, a Jewish
state, and the like.
C3.
ideas man n. (also idea man) [compare French
homme d'idée intellectual (1832), homme à idées creative,

inventive, or ingenious man (1935)] a creative, inventive, or
ingenious man, a man who comes up with ideas.
1845 Chambers's Edinb. Jrnl. 8 Nov. 289/2 The shoulder in connexion with the

wheel is constantly in requisition among the idea men.
1890 Bucks County (Pa.) Gaz. 20 Mar. 1/4 ‘Idea men’ are regularly hired at
handsome salaries nowadays by several different classes of employers.
1938 ‘E. QUEEN’ Four of Hearts (1939) i. 10 You're an idea man, and that's what
they pay off on in Hollywood.
1940 Ann. Reg. 1939 363 Bryan Wallace was appointed Ideas Man to the
Government.
1954 A. KOESTLER Invisible Writing xxxi. 333 He looked like the nonchalant
impresario and idea-man of the great Comintern variety show.
1998 J. BARNES England, Eng. (1999) 29 From small beginnings, he has risen like a
meteor to great things. Entrepreneur, innovator, ideas man, arts patron,
inner-city revitaliser.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010).
Oxford University Press

Copyright © 2018 Oxford University Press . All rights reserved.

Idea, N. - Oxford English Dictionary

Загружено:

Сведения о документе

Оригинальное название

Авторское право

Доступные форматы

Поделиться этим документом

Поделиться или встроить документ

Параметры публикации

Этот документ был вам полезен?

Это неприемлемый материал?

Авторское право:

Доступные форматы

Idea, N. - Oxford English Dictionary

Загружено:

Авторское право:

Доступные форматы

12/04/2018 idea, n.

: Oxford English Dictionary

Oxford English Dictionary | The definitive record of

I. Senses relating to or derived from the Platonic concept of general or

a. In Platonic philosophy: an abstract or eternally

existing pattern or archetype of any kind of thing, in

▸ a1398 J. TREVISA tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.

Plato his Idæa.

b. In Kantian thought: an a priori concept of reason

denoting an object beyond the bounds of possible

1797 in tr. J. S. Beck Princ. Crit. Philos. Pref. p. xiii I understand by an idea, a

c. In Hegelian thought: the absolute truth of which all

phenomenal existence is the expression. Frequently in the

2. The conception of a standard or principle to be realized

or aimed at; a conception of what is desirable or ought to

viewed as a slow-growing crop.

a. The conception of anything in its highest perfection or

supreme development; a standard of perfection; an ideal.

b. A person or thing regarded as perfect in its kind; the

ideal realized in an individual. Obs.

1651 J. SAINT-AMARD tr. F. Micanzio Life Father Paul p. lxv, in P. Sarpi Hist.

4. A conception or notion of something to be done or

carried out; an intention, plan of action.

†5. A pattern, type; the original of which something else is

a copy; a preliminary sketch or draft; something in an

1648 B. GERBIER Interpreter Acad. Forrain Langs. I. 174 A daughter had caused a

6. Music. A musical theme, phrase, or figure as conceived

or sketched before being worked up in a composition.

†II. Senses denoting a perceptible form or figure.

7. A representation, likeness, image, symbol (of

1531 T. ELYOT Bk. named Gouernour I. xxii. sig. Liii I haue..noted daunsinge to be

8. An inherent form; configuration, shape. Also: a

defining characteristic; aspect, nature, character. Obs.

9. A figure of speech or rhetoric; a form or way of

speaking. Obs. rare.

1642 MILTON Apol. Smectymnuus i Whether a vehement vein throwing out

III. Senses relating to the mind without necessarily implying an external

10. The mental image or notion of something previously

seen or known, recalled by the memory.

1579 T. NORTH tr. D. Acciaiuoli in tr. Plutarch Liues 1132 Hamilcar..compelled

a. Usually with of: a picture or notion of something

formed in the mind independently of direct memory; a

b. depreciative. A conception to which no reality

corresponds; something merely imagined or fancied.

Usually with modifying word, as mere.

a. More widely: any product of mental apprehension or

activity, existing in the mind as an object of knowledge or

b. In the philosophy of Descartes, and esp. in the

empiricist tradition of Locke, Berkeley, Hume, etc.: any of

1666 Philos. Trans. 1665–6 (Royal Soc.) 1 325 The Arguments devised against

c. A notion or thought that is more or less implausible,

indefinite, or fanciful; a vague belief, opinion, or estimate;

13. After a possessive and with of: a person's conception

of an ideal, typical, or adequate example of the person or

1664 H. MORE Modest Enq. Myst. Iniquity II. xvii. 174 I think it very convenient,

1742 H. FIELDING Joseph Andrews I. I. x. 57 To indicate our Idea of a simple

P1. in idea: in conception or imagination; in mind, in

thought, often as opposed to reality; †also with possessive

1797 J. SHARP Life & Tragic Death F. G. Meyer. iii. 77 Murder..a crime that is so

P2. to have no idea: (a) colloq. to be unable to

understand, imagine, or explain; often in phrase you have

to give a person ideas): to give a person notions of a

b. to get ideas (into one's head) (also to have

idea book n. [originally after German IdeenBuch (1795

C2. Instrumental, as ideaintoxicated adj.