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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

imaginary.

Existing only in the imagination.

9 characters5 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

adj/ɪˈmæd͡ʒɪnəɹi/Received-Pronunciation/ɪˈmæd͡ʒɪnɹi/Received-Pronunciation/ɪˈmæd͡ʒɪˌn(ɛ)ɹi/General-American
  1. Existing only in the imagination.

    imaginary friend
    Unicorns are imaginary.
  2. Relating or belonging to the imagination.

  3. Having no real part; that part of a complex number which is a multiple of √ (called imaginary unit).

Where this word comes from

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.

noun/ɪˈmæd͡ʒɪnəɹi/Received-Pronunciation/ɪˈmæd͡ʒɪnɹi/Received-Pronunciation/ɪˈmæd͡ʒɪˌn(ɛ)ɹi/General-American
  1. Imagination; fancy.

  2. An imaginary number.

    countable
  3. The set of values, institutions, laws, and symbols common to a particular social group and the corresponding society through which people imagine their social whole.

Where this word comes from

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.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.