the faculty of imagining, or of forming mental images or concepts of what is not actually present to the senses.
2.
the action or process of forming such images or concepts.
3.
the faculty of producing ideal creations consistent with reality, as in literature, as distinct from the power of creating illustrative or decorative imagery. Compare fancy(def. 2).
4.
the product of imagining; a conception or mental creation, often a baseless or fanciful one.
5.
ability to face and resolve difficulties; resourcefulness: a job that requires imagination.
6.
Psychology. the power of reproducing images stored in the memory under the suggestion of associated images (reproductive imagination) or of recombining former experiences in the creation of new images directed at a specific goal or aiding in the solution of problems (creative imagination).
7.
(in Kantian epistemology) synthesis of data from the sensory manifold into objects by means of the categories.
8.
Archaic. a plan, scheme, or plot.
[Origin: 1300–50; ME < L imāginātiōn- (s. of imāginātiō) fancy, equiv. to imāgināt(us) ptp. of imāginārī to imagine(imāgin-, s. of imāgōimage+ -ātus-ate1) + -iōn--ion]
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