Definition of ideate
: to form an idea
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Examples of ideate in a Sentence
the psychotic would repeatedly ideate the act of committing murder, and eventually he came to believe his own delusions
Recent Examples of ideate from the Web
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While there’s still very little known about the brand, on purpose, the aesthetics and story are inanely compelling, politically important, and perhaps socially radical for the city in which the clothes are ideated.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'ideate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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.
First Known Use of ideate
1610
ideate Synonyms
Synonyms
conceive, conjure (up), dream, envisage, envision, fancy, fantasize, fantasy, feature, image, imagine, picture, see, vision, visualize;
Related Words
re-create, reflect, relive, reminisce;
contemplate, meditate, muse, ponder, ruminate;
concoct, fabricate, invent, make up, manufacture, plan, project;
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See words that rhyme with ideate Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for ideate
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