Word of the Day

: April 12, 2009

ideate

verb EYE-dee-ayt

What It Means

1 : to form an idea or conception of

2 : to form an idea

ideate in Context

Joshua first ideated his vision of a water garden for his backyard after he went on a sightseeing tour of water fountains in Kansas City.

Did You Know?

Like "idea" and "ideal," "ideate" comes from the Greek verb "idein," which means "to see." The sight-thought connection came courtesy of Plato, the Greek philosopher who based his theory of the ideal on the concept of seeing, claiming that a true philosopher can see the essential nature of things and can recognize their ideal form or state. Early uses of "idea," "ideal," and "ideate" in English were associated with Platonic philosophy; "idea" meant "an archetype" or "a standard of perfection," "ideal" meant "existing as an archetype," and "ideate" referred to forming Platonic ideas. But though "ideate" is tied to ancient philosophy, the word itself is a modern concoction, relatively speaking. It first appeared in English only about 400 years ago.