Link Centre Dictionary

imaginary

ima·gi·nary

UK/ɪˈmæd͡ʒɪnəɹi/ US/ɪˈmæd͡ʒɪnɹi/ fairly common

adjective

1.

not based on fact; dubious

  • “the falsehood about some fanciful secret treaties” F.D.Roosevelt
  • “a small child”
  • “;”
  • “;”
Synonyms
Similar

Origin

From Middle English ymaginarie, ymagynary, from Latin imāginārius (“relating to images, fancied”), from imāgō, equivalent to imagine + -ary. The mathematical sense derives from René Descartes's use (of the French imaginaire) in 1637, La Geometrie, to ridicule the notion of regarding non-real roots of polynomials as numbers. Although Descartes' usage was derogatory, the designation stuck even after the concept gained acceptance in the 18th century.

Related words

Word family

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.