I. ˈimij, -mēj noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Old French, short for imagene, from Latin imagin-, imago; akin to Latin imitari to imitate
1. : a reproduction of a person or thing: as
a. : statue
b.
(1) : device , emblem
(2) : a figure used as a talisman or amulet especially in conjurations (as by sorcerers in casting spells)
c.
(1) : picture , portrait
(2) : a sculptured or fabricated object of symbolic value : idol ; specifically : a holy picture (as an ikon)
2. : a thing actually or seemingly reproducing another: as
a.
(1) : the optical counterpart of an object produced by a lens, mirror, or other optical system and being the geometric figure made up of the foci corresponding to the points of the object — see real image , virtual image
(2) : an analogous phenomenon in some field other than optics
an acoustic image
an electric image
b. : any likeness of an object produced on a photographic material
3. : exact likeness : semblance
4.
a. : a tangible or visible representation : incarnation
a civil servant who is the image of conscientiousness
b. archaic : an illusory appearance : apparition
5.
a.
(1) : a mental picture : impression
a soldier haunted by images of battle
images, as contrasted with sensations, are the responses during a narrative — Bertrand Russell
(2) : a mental conception held in common by members of a group and being symbolic of a basic attitude and orientation toward something (as a person, class, racial type, political philosophy, or nationality)
the Frenchman's image of America
b. : the memory of a perception in psychology that is modified by subsequent experience and that contains both intellectual and emotional elements elicited by intrapsychic and extrapsychic stimuli ; especially : the representation of a stimulus object on a receptor mechanism
c. : idea , concept
conflicting images of good and evil
6. : a markedly vivid, effective, or graphic representation or description
the set for the play being the image of a New England village
7.
a. : something concrete or abstract introduced (as in a poem or speech) to represent something else which it strikingly resembles or suggests (as the use of sleep for death ) — compare emblem , symbol
b. : a figure of speech (as a metaphor or simile) : trope
8. : a person who is strikingly like another person in appearance, manner, or thought
a son who is the image of his father
II. “, chiefly in pres part -məj transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
1. : to describe or portray in language especially in an effective or vivid manner
2. : to call up a mental picture of : imagine
we no longer image the native landscape in the terms beloved of Rossetti and Tennyson — Vincent Buckley
3.
a. : reflect , mirror
a face imaged in a mirror
b. : to make appear (as in desired form) : project
film imaged on a screen
4.
a. : to create a representation of : depict , portray
a national hero imaged in bronze on a village green
b.
(1) : to create or produce a suggestion of : adumbrate
a symphony imaging the beauty of nature
(2) : to represent symbolically : stand as a symbol of
acres of headstones imaging the losses of war
III. noun
1. : a set of values of a mathematical function (as a homomorphism) that corresponds to a particular subset of the domain
2. : a popular conception (as of a person, institution, or nation) projected especially through the mass media
promoting a corporate image of brotherly love and concern — R.C.Buck