imagery 
3. Descriptive representation; exhibition of 
ideal images to the mind; figurative illustra- 
tion. 
I wish there may be in this poem any instance of good 
imagery. Dry dm. 
That poverty of thought and profusion of imagery which 
are at once the defect and the compensation of all youth- 
ful poetry. Lowell, Study Windows, p. 215. 
4. Mental representation ; formation of images 
in the mind; fanciful or fantastic imagination. 
It might be a mere dream which he saw ; the imagery 
of a melancholick fancy. Bp. Atterbury. 
What can thy imagery of sorrow mean ? 
Prior, Solomon, ii. 
image-worship (im'aj-wer"ship), n. The wor- 
ship of images; as a term of reproach, the wor- 
ship of idols ; idolatry. The veneration of images, as 
the crucifix, or paintings or statues of the Virgin Mary or 
of the saints, is practised in the Roman Catholic and Ori- 
ental churches. The Roman Catholic doctrine concerning 
such veneration is, "that the images of Christ, of the Vir- 
gin Mother of God, and of the other saints, are to be had 
and retained particularly in temples, and that due honor 
and veneration are to be given them ; not that any divinity, 
or virtue, is believed to be in them, on account of which 
they are to be worshipped ; or that any thing is to be asked 
of them ; or that trust is to be reposed in images, as was 
of old done by the Gentiles, who placed their hope in idols ; 
but because the honor which is shown them is referred to 
the prototypes which those images represent ; in such wise 
that by the images which we kiss, and before which we un- 
cover the head and prostrate ourselves, we adore Christ, 
and we venerate the saints whose similitude they bear." 
Decrees of the Council of Trent (quoted in Schaff's "Creeds 
of Christendom," II. 201). 
imagilett, [< !* as if "imagiletto, < imagine, 
immagine, image: see image and -let.] A small 
image. 
Italy affords finer alabaster, whereof those imagilets 
wrought at Leghorn are made. 
Fuller, Worthies, Staffordshire, III. 124. 
imaginable (i-maj'i-ua-bl), o. [< F. imaginable 
= Pr. ymaginable = Sp. imaginable = Pg. imagi- 
navel = It. imaginable, now immaginaltile, also 
immagincvole, < ML. imagiiiabilis, < L. imaginari, 
imagine : see imagine."] Capable of being im- 
agined or conceived. 
He ran into all the extravagances imaginable. 
Steele, Spectator, No. 82. 
imaginableness (i-maj'i-na-bl-nes), 11. The 
state of, being imaginable. 
imaginably (i-maj'i-na-bli), adv. So as to be 
capable of being imagined ; in a conceivable 
manner; possibly. 
We found it so exceeding (and scarce imaginably) dim- 
cult a matter to keep out the air from getting at all in at 
any imperceptible hole or flaw. Boyle, Works, 1. 10. 
imaginal (i-maj'i-nal), a. [= OF. imaginal, < 
LL. imaginalis, figurative, < L. imago (imagin-), 
image, figure: see image.'] 1 . Characterized by 
imagination; imaginative. [Rare.] 2. Given 
to the use of rhetorical figures or images. North 
British Bev. [Rare.] 3. In entom., of or per- 
taining to the imago or perfect state of an in- 
sect Imaginal disk. See the extract 
The apodal maggot [of Muicidce], when it leaves the egg, 
carries in the interior of its body certain regularly ar- 
ranged discoidal masses of indifferent tissue, which are 
termed imaginal disks. ... As the imaginal disks de- 
velop, the preexisting organs contained in the head and 
thorax of the larva undergo complete or partial resolu- 
tion. Huxley, Anat. Invert., p. 386. 
imaginantt (i-maj'i-nant), a. and n. [= F. 
imaginant=It.immagmante, <L. imaginan(t~)s, 
ppr. of imaginari, imagine: see imagine."] I. a. 
Imagining; conceiving. 
And (we will enquire) what the force of imagination is, 
either upon the body imaginant, or upon another body. 
Bacon, Nat. Hist., 900. 
II. n. One who imagines; an imaginer. 
It is an inquiry of great depth and worth concerning 
imagination, how and how far it altereth the body proper 
of the imaginant. 
Bacon, Advancement of Learning, ii. 186. 
Story is full of the wonders it works upon hypochon- 
drical imaginants ; to whom the grossest absurdities are 
infallible certainties, and free reason an impostour. 
Glanville, Vanity of Dogmatizing, xi. 
imaginarily (i-rnaj'i-na-ri-li), adv. By means 
of the imagination; in imagination. 
You make her tremble ; 
Do you not see 't imaginarily * 
Ford, Lady s Trial, ii. 1. 
imaginariness (i-maj'i-na-ri-nes), n. The con- 
dition or quality of being imaginary. 
imaginarity (i-maj-i-nar'i-ti), . [< imaginary 
+ -ty 2 .] In math., the state of being imagi- 
nary. 
imaginary (i-maj'i-na-ri), a. and n. [= F. ima- 
ginaire = Pr. imaginari = Sp. Pg. imaginario 
= It. immaginario, < L. imaginarius, seeming, 
imaginary, LL. also, lit., pertaining to an im- 
age, < imago (imagin-), an image: see image."] 
2992 
1. a. 1. Existing only in imagination or fancy; 
due to erroneous belief or conception ; not real ; 
baseless; fancied: opposed to actual. 
Besides real diseases, we are subject to many that are 
only imaginary, for which the physicians have invented 
imaginary cures. Swift, Gulliver's Travels, iv. 6. 
Imaginary ills and fancied tortures. Addison, Cato. 
Most of the names throughout the work are as imagi- 
nary as those of its pretended authors. 
Ticknor, Span. Lit, I. 192. 
Nor, surely, did he miss 
Some pale, imaginary bliss 
Of earlier sights whose inner landscape still was Swiss. 
Lowell, Agassiz, iv. 2. 
2. In math., unreal and feigned in accordance 
with the theory of imaginary quantities De- 
parture of an imaginary quantity, its argument 
See argument, 8. Imaginary calculus, ens, etc. See 
the nouns. Imaginary coordinate, a coordinate whose 
value is imaginary. Imaginary curve, a feigned curve 
every point of which is imaginary. Imaginary envelop, 
the real curve which results from the substitution for the 
imaginary coordinates, x = a + bi, y = c + di, of x! = a + 
o,y' = c + d, upon the assumption that dy/dx is real. 
Imaginary exponent, an exponent which is an imagi- 
nary quantity. Imaginary geometry, analytical ge- 
ometry in which the coordinates are allowed to take ima- 
ginary values. Imaginary integral, an integral which 
appears under an imaginary form, usually on account of 
an imaginary constant being added to it Imaginary 
line a feigned line some of the coefficients of the equation 
to which are imaginary. Imaginary point, in analyti- 
cal geom., a feigned point one or more of the coordinates 
of which are imaginary quantities. Imaginary projec- 
tion, a central projection from an imaginary center or 
upon an imaginary plane. Imaginary quantity, in alg., 
an expression of the form A + Si, where i is a symbol the 
square of which is negative unity (1). The object of in- 
troducing imaginary quantities is to avoid a multitude of 
distinct cases between which it is not desired to discrim- 
inate, and to state what is true in general terms. Thus, a 
quadratic equation, as A2 + Bz + C = 0, is said to have 
two roots. But these roots are real and distinct only if B2 
4AC is positive. If this quantity vanishes, the two roots 
coalesce ; and if it is negative, they become imaginary. The 
introduction of imaginaries greatly facilitates the reason- 
ing of mathematics, even in cases where the conclusion 
has nothing to do with imaginaries. The greater part of 
the known propositions of higher analytical geometry are 
only true when account is taken of imaginary quantities. 
Imaginary quantities are feigned quantities, or they may 
be considered as quantities outside the ordinary system of 
quantity. Also called impossible quantity. Imaginary 
tangent, a feigned tangent which is an imaginary line. 
Imaginary transformation, a transformation by means 
of equations containing imaginary coefficients. = Syn. 1. 
Ideal, fanciful, fancied, visionary, unreal, shadowy, Uto- 
pian. Imaginary and imaginative are never synonymous : 
imaginary means existing only in the imagination ; ima- 
ginative means possessed of or showing an active imagi- 
nation. 
II. n. ; pi. imaginaries (-riz). In alg., an ima- 
ginary expression or quantity Conjugate ima- 
ginaries. See conjugate. 
imaginatet (i-maj'i-nat), a. [< L. imaginatus, 
pp. of imaginare, give an image of: see image, 
t'.] Imaginative. 
Whereas the imaginate f acultie of other living creatures 
is unmoveable, and alwaies contiuueth in one. 
Holland, tr. of Pliny, vii. 12. 
imagination (i-maj-i-na'shon), n. [< ME. imagi- 
nacioun, ymaginacioun, < OF. ymagination, yma- 
ginacion, F. imagination = Pi', ymaginatio, ema- 
genassio = Sp. imagination = Pg. imaginaqSo = 
It. immaginazione, < L. imaginatio(n-), imagina- 
tion, < imaginari, imagine : see imagine.'] 1 . The 
act or faculty of forming a mental image of an 
object ; the act or power of presenting to con- 
sciousness objects other than those directly 
and at that time produced by the action of 
the senses; the act or power of reproducing 
or recombining remembered images of sense- 
objects ; especially, the higher form of this pow- 
er exercised in poetry and art. Imagination is 
commonly divided into reproductive and productive ; re- 
productive imagination being the act or faculty of repro- 
ducing images stored in the memory, under the sugges- 
tion of associated images ; productive imagination being 
the creative imagination which designedly recombines 
former experiences into new images. The phrase produc- 
tive imagination is also used in the Kantian philosophy 
to denote the pure transcendental imagination, or that 
faculty by which the parts of the intuitions of space and 
time are combined into continua. 
The poet's eye, in a fine frenzy rolling, 
Doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven ; 
And, as imagination bodies forth 
The forms of things unknown, the poet's pen 
Turns them to shapes, and gives to airy nothing 
A local habitation and a name. 
Such tricks hath strong imagination; 
That, if it would but apprehend some joy, 
It comprehends some bringer of that joy ; 
Or, in the night, imagining some fear, 
How easy is a bush suppos'd a bear. 
Shak., M. N. D., v. 1. 
It is evident that true imagination is vastly different 
from fancy ; far from being merely a playful outcome of 
mental activity, a thing of joy and beauty only, it per- 
forms the initial and essential functions in every branch 
of human development. Maudsley, Body and Will, p. 201. 
2. An image in the mind; a formulated con- 
ception or idea. 
imagine 
Experience techith that colerik men jeueth to summe 
ymagynaciouin, and sangueyn men ben ocupied aboute 
summe othere ymagynacwuns. 
Book of Quinte Essence (ed. Furnivall), p. 17. 
My brain, methinks, is like an hour glass, 
Wherein my imaginations run like sands. 
B. Jonson, Every Man in his Humour, iii. 2. 
He that uses the word " tarantula" without having any 
imagination or idea of what it stands for pronounces a 
good word, but so long means nothing at all by it. 
Locke, Human Understanding, III. x. 32. 
3. The act of devising, planning, or scheming; 
a contrivance ; scheme ; device ; plot. 
Wenynge is no wysdome ne wyse ymagynacioun, 
Homo proponit et deus disponit and gouerneth alle good 
vertues. Piers Plowman (B), xx. S3. 
Thou hast seen ail their vengeance and all their imagi- 
nations against me. Lam. iii. 60. 
I was at my wits' end, and was brought into many ima- 
ginations what to do. 
Capt. R. Bodenham (Arber's Eng. Garner, I. 35). 
4. A baseless or fanciful opinion. 
For my purpose of proceeding in the profession of the 
law, so far as to a title, you may be pleased to correct that 
imagination where you find it. Donne, Letters, xxxii. 
We are apt to think that space, in itself, is actually 
boundless ; to which imagination the idea of space or ex- 
pansion of itself naturally leads us. 
Locke, Human Understanding, II. xvii. 4. 
Combinatory imagination. See comMnatory. Crea- 
tive imagination. See creative. =Syn. 1. Imagination, 
Fancy. By derivation and early use fancy has the same 
meaning as imagination, but the words have become more 
and more distinctly separated. (See Wordsworth's pre- 
face to his " Lyrical Ballads. 1 ') Imagination is the more 
Midsummer Night's Dream" and "The Tempest" of his 
fancy. 
Consider for a moment if ever the Imagination has been 
so embodied as in Prospero, the Fancy as in Ariel, the 
brute Understanding as in Caliban. 
Lowell, Among my Books, 1st ser., p. 199. 
Warm glowing colors fancy spreads 
On objects not yet known. 
Mrs. H. More, David and Goliath, ii. 
imaginational (i-maj-i-na'shqn-al), a. [< ima- 
gination + -a/.] Of or relating"to the imagi- 
nation; imaginary. 
imaginative (i-maj'i-na-tiv), a. [< ME. imagi- 
natif, < OF. (and F.) imaginatif= Pr. ymagina- 
tiu = Sp. Pg. imaginative = It. immaginativo, 
< ML. 'imaginations, < L. imaginari, pp. ima- 
ginatus, imagine: see imagine."] 1. Forming 
images ; endowed with imagination ; given to 
imagining: as, the imaginative faculty; an ima- 
ginative person. 
Milton had a highly imaginative, Cowley a very fanci 
ful mind. Coleridge. 
Of all people children are the most imaginative. 
Macaulay, Mitford's Hist. 
Sir Thomas Browne, our most imaginative mind since 
Shakespeare. Lowell, Among my Books, 1st ser. , p. 153. 
2. Characterized by or resulting from imagi- 
nation ; exhibiting or indicating the faculty of 
imagination. 
I think it [the third canto of the Purgatorio] the most 
perfect passage of its kind in the world, the most imagi- 
native, the most picturesque. Macaulay, Dante. 
The more indolent and imaginative complexion of the 
Eastern nations makes them much more impressible. 
Emerson, Eloquence. 
His [.Elfred's] love of strangers, his questionings of trav- 
ellers and scholars, betray an imaginative restlessness. 
J. R. Green, Conq. of Eng., p. 168. 
3f. Inquisitive; suspicious; jealous. 
Nothyng list hym to been ymaainatitf, 
If any wight had spoke whil he was oute 
To hire [her] of love, he hadde of it no doubt. 
Chaucer, Franklin's Tale, 1. 366. 
The kynge enclyned well thereto, but the duke of Bur- 
goyne, who was sage and ymagynatyue, wolde nat agree 
therto. Berners, tr. of Froissart's Chron., II. clxxxl. 
= Syn. Inventive, creative, poetical. See imaginary. 
imaginatively (i-maj'i-na-tiv-li), adv. In an 
imaginative manner; with or by the exercise 
of imagination. 
To write imaginatively a man should have imagina- 
tion ! Lowell, Among my Books, 1st ser. , p. 35. 
imaginativeness (i-maj'i-na-tiv-nes), n. The 
quality of being imaginative. 
imagine (i-maj'in), r. ; pret. and pp. imagined, 
ppr. imagining. [< ME. imaginen, imagenen, < 
OF. ymaginer, imaginer, F. imaginer = Pr. imagi- 
nar, ymaginar, emaginar = Sp. Pg. imaginar = 
It. immagiiiare, < L. imaginari, picture to one- 
self, fancy, imagine, < imago (imagin-), a copy, 
likeness, image: see image.'] I. trans. 1. To 
form a mental image of ; produce by the imagi- 
nation ; especially, to construct by the produc- 
tive imagination. 
For to have bettere umlerstondynge, I seye thus, lie 
ther ymagyned a i'igure that hathe a gret Compas; and 
