See Also: idea(dictionary)
idea(dictionary)
idea(medicine)
Ohio Idea(encyclopedia)
Overvalued idea(health)
Bounce an Idea off Someone(money)
overvalued idea(medicine)
idea of reference(medicine)
hyperquantivalent idea(medicine)
fixed idea(medicine)

idea (iou)



idea noun. . LME.
[Latin from Greek = look, semblance, form, kind, nature, ideal form, model, from base of idein see.]
I. An archetype, a pattern, a standard.
In Platonic philosophy: an eternally existing pattern of any class, of which the individual members are imperfect copies. LME.
The conception of something at its highest perfection or most complete stage of development; a standard of perfection, an ideal. L16.
E. B. Browning Thou [Lucifer] shalt be an Idea to all souls..whence to mark despair.
b. A person or thing as an ideal. L16-M17.
The conception of a standard to be aimed at; the plan or design according to which something is created or constructed. Now passing into sense 4. L16.
F. Myers The ground-plan of the Universethe idea according to which it is.
b. A preliminary sketch or plan; a basic outline. M17-M18.
A conception of something to be done or achieved; an intention, a plan of action. L16.
D. L. Sayers That was an ingenious idea nobody had yet thought of. W. S. Burroughs If you have your own ideas for a new model the designers will make it. W. Maxwell He didn't think the party was at all a good idea.
II. Form, image, nature.
A likeness, an image, a representation; shape, form; nature, character. M16-M18.
III. Mental image or conception.
A mental image of something previously seen or known and recalled by the memory. L16-M18.
Henry Fielding Though I despaired of possessing you..I doted still on your charming idea.
Something imagined; a conception having no basis in reality; gen. a picture or notion of anything conceived in the mind. L16.
C. Day The idea of playing in public sent cold chills down Julie's back. A. Lurie The idea..which seemed so lovely last autumn, has become a cold, exhausting reality. A. Davis The preview trip to the school completely shattered my ideas of what schools were..like.
A product of mental activity existing in the mind; an item of knowledge or belief; a thought; a way of thinking. M17.
P. Bowles 'I wonder if..I'm a coward?' he thought...The idea saddened him. S. Spender The three great political ideas of our timeFascism, Communism, and Liberal-Socialism. A. Clare There is a poverty of ideas and mental imagery.
b. A vague or indefinite notion, belief, or opinion; a supposition, an impression. Also, a person's conception of an ideal, typical, or adequate example of the person or thing specified. E18.
H. James To sit on a balcony, eating icesthat's my idea of heaven. B. Lopez Even officers of the British whaling fleet had little idea where a meteorite might come from. A. Munro He..had some idea of doing work in underdeveloped countries.
IV. Philosophy.
In the philosophy of Descartes and Locke: whatever is in the mind and directly present to cognitive consciousness; the immediate object of thought or mental perception. M17.
(In the philosophy of Kant) a conception of reason transcending all experience, as opp. to a conception of the understanding which is confined by experience; (in the philosophy of Hegel) the absolute truth of which all phenomenal existence is the expression. M19.
Phrases: FIXED idea. get ideas, have ideas colloq. be ambitious, rebellious, etc. give a person ideas (a) create a false impression of sexual promiscuity; (b) = put ideas into a person's head below. have ideas: see get ideas above. have no idea colloq. (a) not know at all; (b) be completely incompetent. man of ideas a resourceful man. put ideas into a person's head suggest ambitions etc. that he or she would not otherwise have thought of. that's an idea colloq. that proposal etc. is worth considering. that's the idea! colloq. you are beginning to understand how to proceed. the big idea (usu. iron.) the important intention or scheme. the very idea! colloq.: an exclamation of disapproval or disagreement. woman of ideas a resourceful woman.
idea'd adjective having an idea or ideas, esp. of a specified kind M18.
idealess adjective lacking ideas; meaningless: E19.