Did you know?
See the Origin of Ideate
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.
Examples of ideate in a Sentence
Emily Burns, Footwear News, 2 May 2025
Backgrounds, storyboards, or outlines generated by AI leave the thinking and ideating to you.
—Mary Meehan, Forbes.com, 16 Apr. 2025
Ludwig Göransson, the Academy Award-winning composer and Proximity co-founder, was ideating the film’s music before the screenplay was done.
—Mia Galuppo, HollywoodReporter, 18 Apr. 2025
This experience led Haspel to ideate and develop a personal protection tool combining multiple safety features in an easy to use device.
—Yola Robert, Forbes.com, 15 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ideate
Cite this Entry
“Ideate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ideate. Accessed 14 Jun. 2025.
Copy Citation
Share