Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “imagine” come from?

Imagine comes from Middle English ymagynen, from Middle French imaginer, from Latin imaginor, derived from Latin imago meaning image or likeness.

imagine (English): To form a mental image of something; to envision...

Definitions

  1. To form a mental image of something; to envision...

Ancestry of “imagine”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishymagynento imagine or depict; to formulate a mental...
2Middle Frenchimaginer—
3Latinimāginor—
4Latinimāginem—
5Latinim-Alternative form of in-; form of "in"; in
6Latinīn-—
7Latinîn—
8Latinenlookǃ beholdǃ; reallyǃ?; come onǃ
9Proto-Italicenin
10Proto-Indo-Europeanh₁énin

Words derived from “imagine”

  • unimaginable
  • unimaginably
  • reimagine
  • imaginer
  • imaginability
  • imaginest
  • imagineth
  • unimaginability
  • imaginist
  • unimagine
  • imaginous
  • unimaginableness
  • reimaginer
  • overimagine
  • preimagine
  • imaginitis
  • จิ้น
Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₁én →