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Idea definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

IDE'A, n. [L. idea; Gr. to see, L. video.]
1. Literally, that which is seen; hence, form, image, model of any thing in the mind; that which is held or comprehended by the understanding or intellectual faculties.
I have used the idea, to express whatever is meant by phantasm, notion, species, or whatever it is which the mind can be employed about in thinking.
Whatever the mind perceives in itself, or is the immediate object of perception, thought or understanding, that I call an idea.
The attention of the understanding to the objects acting on it, by which it becomes sensible of the impressions they make, is called by logicians, perception, and the notices themselves as they exist in the mind, as the materials of thinking and knowledge, are distinguished by the name of ideas.
An idea is the reflex perception of objects, after the original perception or impression has been felt by the mind.
In popular language, idea signifies the same thing as conception, apprehension, notion. To have an idea of any thing is to conceive it. In philosophical use, it does not signify that act of the mind which we call thought or conception, but some object of thought.
According to modern writers on mental philosophy, an idea is the object of thought, or the notice which the mind takes of its perceptions.
Darwin uses idea for a notion of external things which our organs bring us acquainted with originally, and he defines it, a contraction, motion or configuration of the fibers which constitute the immediate organ of sense; synonymous with which he sometimes uses sensual motion, in contradistinction to muscular motion.
1. In popular use, idea signifies notion, conception, thought, opinion, and even purpose or intention.
2. Image in the mind.
Her sweet idea wandered through his thoughts.
[A bad use of the word.]
3. An opinion; a proposition. These decisions are incompatible with the idea, that the principles are derived from the civil law.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about; "it was not a good idea"; "the thought never entered my mind" [syn: idea, thought]
2: your intention; what you intend to do; "he had in mind to see his old teacher"; "the idea of the game is to capture all the pieces" [syn: mind, idea]
3: a personal view; "he has an idea that we don't like him"
4: an approximate calculation of quantity or degree or worth; "an estimate of what it would cost"; "a rough idea how long it would take" [syn: estimate, estimation, approximation, idea]
5: (music) melodic subject of a musical composition; "the theme is announced in the first measures"; "the accompanist picked up the idea and elaborated it" [syn: theme, melodic theme, musical theme, idea]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Middle English, from Latin, from Greek, from idein to see — more at wit Date: 14th century 1. a. a transcendent entity that is a real pattern of which existing things are imperfect representations b. a standard of perfection ; ideal c. a plan for action ; design 2. archaic a visible representation of a conception ; a replica of a pattern 3. a. obsolete an image recalled by memory b. an indefinite or unformed conception c. an entity (as a thought, concept, sensation, or image) actually or potentially present to consciousness 4. a formulated thought or opinion 5. whatever is known or supposed about something <a child's idea of time> 6. the central meaning or chief end of a particular action or situation 7. Christian Science an image in Mind • idealess adjective Synonyms: idea, concept, conception, thought, notion, impression mean what exists in the mind as a representation (as of something comprehended) or as a formulation (as of a plan). idea may apply to a mental image or formulation of something seen or known or imagined, to a pure abstraction, or to something assumed or vaguely sensed <innovative ideas> <my idea of paradise>. concept may apply to the idea formed by consideration of instances of a species or genus or, more broadly, to any idea of what a thing ought to be <a society with no concept of private property>. conception is often interchangeable with concept; it may stress the process of imagining or formulating rather than the result <our changing conception of what constitutes art>. thought is likely to suggest the result of reflecting, reasoning, or meditating rather than of imagining <commit your thoughts to paper>. notion suggests an idea not much resolved by analysis or reflection and may suggest the capricious or accidental <you have the oddest notions>. impression applies to an idea or notion resulting immediately from some stimulation of the senses <the first impression is of soaring height>.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a conception or plan formed by mental effort (have you any ideas?; had the idea of writing a book). 2 a a mental impression or notion; a concept. b a vague belief or fancy (had an idea you were married; had no idea where you were). 3 an intention, purpose, or essential feature (the idea is to make money). 4 an archetype or pattern as distinguished from its realization in individual cases. 5 Philos. a (in Platonism) an eternally existing pattern of which individual things in any class are imperfect copies. b a concept of pure reason which transcends experience. Phrases and idioms: get (or have) ideas colloq. be ambitious, rebellious, etc. have no idea colloq. 1 not know at all. 2 be completely incompetent. not one's idea of colloq. not what one regards as (not my idea of a pleasant evening). put ideas into a person's head suggest ambitions etc. he or she would not otherwise have had. that's an idea colloq. that proposal etc. is worth considering. the very idea! colloq. an exclamation of disapproval or disagreement. Derivatives: idea'd adj. ideaed adj. idealess adj. Etymology: Gk idea form, pattern f. stem id- see

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Idea I*de"a, n.; pl. Ideas. [L. idea, Gr. ?, fr. ? to see; akin to E. wit: cf. F. id['e]e. See Wit.] 1. The transcript, image, or picture of a visible object, that is formed by the mind; also, a similar image of any object whatever, whether sensible or spiritual. Her sweet idea wandered through his thoughts. --Fairfax. Being the right idea of your father Both in your form and nobleness of mind. --Shak. This representation or likeness of the object being transmitted from thence [the senses] to the imagination, and lodged there for the view and observation of the pure intellect, is aptly and properly called its idea. --P. Browne. 2. A general notion, or a conception formed by generalization. Alice had not the slightest idea what latitude was. --L. Caroll. 3. Hence: Any object apprehended, conceived, or thought of, by the mind; a notion, conception, or thought; the real object that is conceived or thought of. Whatsoever the mind perceives in itself, or as the immediate object of perception, thought, or undersanding, that I call idea. --Locke. 4. A belief, option, or doctrine; a characteristic or controlling principle; as, an essential idea; the idea of development. That fellow seems to me to possess but one idea, and that is a wrong one. --Johnson. What is now ``idea'' for us? How infinite the fall of this word, since the time where Milton sang of the Creator contemplating his newly-created world, - ``how it showed . . . Answering his great idea,'' - to its present use, when this person ``has an idea that the train has started,'' and the other ``had no idea that the dinner would be so bad!'' --Trench. 5. A plan or purpose of action; intention; design. I shortly afterwards set off for that capital, with an idea of undertaking while there the translation of the work. --W. Irving. 6. A rational conception; the complete conception of an object when thought of in all its essential elements or constituents; the necessary metaphysical or constituent attributes and relations, when conceived in the abstract. 7. A fiction object or picture created by the imagination; the same when proposed as a pattern to be copied, or a standard to be reached; one of the archetypes or patterns of created things, conceived by the Platonists to have excited objectively from eternity in the mind of the Deity. Thence to behold this new-created world, The addition of his empire, how it showed In prospect from his throne, how good, how fair, Answering his great idea. --Milton. Note: ``In England, Locke may be said to have been the first who naturalized the term in its Cartesian universality. When, in common language, employed by Milton and Dryden, after Descartes, as before him by Sidney, Spenser, Shakespeare, Hooker, etc., the meaning is Platonic.'' --Sir W. Hamilton. Abstract idea, Association of ideas, etc. See under Abstract, Association, etc. Syn: Notion; conception; thought; sentiment; fancy; image; perception; impression; opinion; belief; observation; judgment; consideration; view; design; intention; purpose; plan; model; pattern. There is scarcely any other word which is subjected to such abusive treatment as is the word idea, in the very general and indiscriminative way in which it is employed, as it is used variously to signify almost any act, state, or content of thought.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(ideas) Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. 1. An idea is a plan, suggestion, or possible course of action. It's a good idea to plan ahead... I really like the idea of helping people... She told me she'd had a brilliant idea. N-COUNT: oft adj N, N to-inf, N of n/-ing 2. An idea is an opinion or belief about what something is like or should be like. Some of his ideas about democracy are entirely his own. ...the idea that reading too many books ruins your eyes... = notion N-COUNT: usu N about/on/of n, N that 3. If someone gives you an idea of something, they give you information about it without being very exact or giving a lot of detail. This table will give you some idea of how levels of ability can be measured... If you cannot remember the exact date give a rough idea of when it was. N-SING: N of n/wh 4. If you have an idea of something, you know about it to some extent. No one has any real idea how much the company will make next year. N-SING: with supp 5. If you have an idea that something is the case, you think that it may be the case, although you are not certain. I had an idea that he joined the army later, but I may be wrong. N-SING: N that [vagueness] 6. The idea of an action or activity is its aim or purpose. The idea is to encourage people to get to know their neighbours. = objective N-SING: the N 7. If you have the idea of doing something, you intend to do it. He sent for a number of books he admired with the idea of re-reading them... = intention N-COUNT: N of -ing/n 8. You can use idea in expressions such as I've no idea or I haven't the faintest idea to emphasize that you do not know something. 'Is she coming by coach?'—'Well I've no idea.' = notion N-SING: with brd-neg [emphasis] 9. If someone gets the idea, they understand how to do something or they understand what you are telling them. (INFORMAL) It isn't too difficult once you get the idea... PHRASE: V inflects

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. [In the Platonic philosophy.] Archetype (conceived of as existing from eternity), pattern, model, exemplar, form, essence (common to many individual things and represented by a general term), creative or self-active ideal. 2. [In the Kantian philosophy.] Supreme principle of pure reason, regulative first principle, highest unitary principle of thought. [There are three such, the Self, the Cosmic Force, and God.] 3. [In the Hegelian philosophy.] Supreme principle, the Absolute, the Self-existent, as the unity of subject and object, God. 4. Universal concept, conception, notion, general or universal conception. 5. Object of thought, image in the mind, mental representation of an object, image in reflection, memory, or imagination. 6. Impression, apprehension, thought, fancy, conceit. 7. Opinion, belief, supposition, judgment, sentiment. 8. Guiding conception, organizing conception, formative notion, regulative principle.

Moby Thesaurus

abstract thought, act of thought, admonition, advice, advising, advocacy, affective meaning, aim, ambition, animus, apprehension, approach, approximation, arrangement, aspiration, assumption, attack, attitude, awareness, bare suggestion, bearing, belief, blueprint, blueprinting, brainwork, briefing, calculation, cast, caution, caveat, cerebration, charting, climate of opinion, clue, cogitation, coloring, common belief, community sentiment, conceit, concept, conception, conceptualization, conclusion, connotation, consensus gentium, consequence, consideration, construct, consultation, contrivance, conviction, council, counsel, creative thought, dash, denotation, desideration, desideratum, design, desire, determination, device, direction, disposition, doctrine, dream, drift, effect, end, enterprise, envisagement, essence, estimate, estimation, ethos, excogitation, excuse, exhortation, explanation, expostulation, extension, eye, fancy, fantasy, feeling, figuring, fixed purpose, force, foresight, forethought, function, game, general belief, gist, gleam, goal, grammatical meaning, graphing, ground plan, guess, guidance, guidelines, half an idea, hazy idea, headwork, heavy thinking, hint, hortation, hypothesis, ideation, imageless thought, impact, implication, import, impression, inkling, instruction, intellection, intellectual exercise, intellectualization, intendment, intension, intent, intention, intimation, judgment, layout, lexical meaning, lick, lights, lineup, literal meaning, long-range plan, look, mapping, master plan, meaning, mental act, mental image, mental labor, mental process, mentation, mere notion, method, methodology, mind, monition, motive, mystique, nisus, noesis, notion, object, objective, observation, operations research, opinion, organization, outlook, overtone, parley, perception, personal judgment, pertinence, philosophy, picture, pith, plan, planning, planning function, point, point of view, popular belief, position, posture, practical consequence, prearrangement, presumption, pretense, pretext, prevailing belief, principle, procedure, program, program of action, project, proposal, prospectus, public belief, public opinion, purport, purpose, raison d'etre, range of meaning, ratiocination, rational ground, rationale, rationalization, reaction, real meaning, reason, reason for, reason why, reasoning, recommendation, reference, referent, relation, relevance, remonstrance, resolution, resolve, sake, schedule, schema, schematism, schematization, scheme, scheme of arrangement, scintilla, scope, semantic cluster, semantic field, sense, sentiment, setup, shade, shadow, sight, significance, signification, significatum, signifie, sip, smack, smattering, smell, sneaking suspicion, soupcon, span of meaning, spark, spirit, sprinkling, stance, stated cause, straight thinking, strategic plan, strategy, striving, structural meaning, study, substance, suggestion, sum, sum and substance, sup, suspicion, symbolic meaning, system, systematization, tactical plan, tactics, taste, tenet, tenor, the big idea, the big picture, the idea, the picture, the whatfor, the wherefore, the why, theory, thinking, thinking aloud, thinking out, thought, tincture, tinge, totality of associations, touch, trace, transferred meaning, unadorned meaning, underlying reason, understanding, undertone, vague idea, value, view, viewpoint, warning, way, way of thinking, will, working plan