image

noun

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im·age | \ ˈi-mij

Definition of image

(Entry 1 of 2)

1a : a visual representation of something: such as

(1) : a likeness of an object produced on a photographic material

(2) : a picture produced on an electronic display (such as a television or computer screen)

b : the optical counterpart of an object produced by an optical device (such as a lens or mirror) or an electronic device

2a(1) : a mental picture or impression of something had a negative body image of herself

(2) : a mental conception held in common by members of a group and symbolic of a basic attitude and orientation a disorderly courtroom can seriously tarnish a community's image of justice— Herbert Brownell

b : idea, concept

3 : 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

4a : exact likeness : semblance God created man in his own image — Genesis 1:27 (Revised Standard Version)

b : a person strikingly like another person she is the image of her mother

5a : a tangible or visible representation : incarnation the image of filial devotion

b archaic : an illusory form : apparition

6 : a vivid or graphic representation or description

7 : a reproduction or imitation of the form of a person or thing especially : an imitation in solid form : statue

8 : figure of speech

9 : a set of values given by a mathematical function (such as a homomorphism) that corresponds to a particular subset of the domain

image

verb

imaged; imaging

Definition of image (Entry 2 of 2)

transitive verb

1a : to create a representation of also : to form an image of imaged Jupiter's rings image the bone using X-rays

b : to represent symbolically

2 : to call up a mental picture of : imagine

3 : to describe or portray in language especially in a vivid manner

4a : reflect, mirror

b : to make appear : project

5 : to make a disk image of Many computer forensics programs now include the option of imaging a suspect drive.— Yvonne Jewkes

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Examples of image in a Sentence

Noun She studied her image in the mirror. The kids sat staring at the images on the TV screen. painters capturing images of war black-and-white images of the city His poem evokes images of the sea and warm summer days. He is trying hard to improve his image. The law suit has negatively affected the company's public image. a politician who cares more about image than about telling the truth Verb in the painting Sacagawea is imaged as an intrepid woman pointing the way for Lewis and Clark the brochure images a vacation at the resort in language that makes you want to make a reservation this instant

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun The restaurant scandal came as California's image as a model of COVID response began to fade. — Star Tribune, "Two Democratic governors see stars dimmed by virus woes," 20 Feb. 2021 For Adam Steltzner, chief engineer of the Perseverance mission and the man who managed the Curiosity rover's descent to Mars in 2012, the image of Perseverance suspended from above was nothing short of inspirational. — William Harwood, CBS News, "Mars rover Perseverance beams back dramatic landing selfie," 20 Feb. 2021 The restaurant scandal came as California’s image as a model of COVID response began to fade. — Nicholas Riccardi And Marina Villeneuve, chicagotribune.com, "Democratic governors Cuomo and Newsom see stars dimmed by coronavirus woes," 20 Feb. 2021 In the first image revealed, Perseverance is shown approaching its landing site in Mars' Jezero Crater and hanging just 6.5 feet over the ground. — Julia Musto, Fox News, "NASA releases new images of Perseverance, surface of Mars," 20 Feb. 2021 The literal paramilitary image of the ‘60s has also been swapped for a more figurative paramilitary-like discipline necessary to defend a cause. — Kristina Davis, San Diego Union-Tribune, "An original Black Panther departs having bridged San Diego’s eras of racial struggle," 20 Feb. 2021 So the Limbaugh world in which strong, independent men settle the West, create this great democracy, become a world power, that is not an image or an understanding of America that has a place for women’s leadership. — Alexa Mikhail, USA TODAY, "How Rush Limbaugh helped turn feminism into an urgent threat to the Republican Party," 19 Feb. 2021 This was an image captured by our rear hazard avoidance camera. — New York Times, "Perseverance’s Pictures From Mars Show NASA Rover’s New Home," 19 Feb. 2021 Below is an image of the Mona Lisa Motel in Inkster, Michigan, outside Detroit, from page 49 of the 1962 Green Book. — USA Today, "A look inside the Green Book, which guided Black travelers through a segregated and hostile America," 19 Feb. 2021 Recent Examples on the Web: Verb This is useful for analyzing structure because in general, the shorter the wavelength used (and the higher the energy of the light), the finer the details one can image and/or analyze. — Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, "High-energy X-rays reveal the secrets of ancient Egyptian inks," 2 Dec. 2020 During the 10-year survey, the camera is expected to image 20 billion galaxies. — Ashley Strickland, CNN, "3 missions prepare to explore Mars and other space news to expect in 2021," 3 Jan. 2021 Next, researchers want to image less rigid proteins. — Science News Staff, Science | AAAS, "The science stories likely to make headlines in 2021," 31 Dec. 2020 The US Food and Drug Administration in May approved flortaucipir, or AV-1451, as the first drug used to image the presence of tau tangles. — Sandee Lamotte, CNN, "Key 2020 health stories you may have missed because of Covid-19," 28 Dec. 2020 The radars image approximately 700 kilometers at a time. — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, "The Weird Trick That Lets Amateurs Detect Warships at Sea," 11 Dec. 2020 And so, truth in advertising requires me to tell you the Event Horizon Telescope did not actually image the event horizon of the supermassive black hole in the galaxy M87, but rather the light from much farther out. — Avi Loeb, Scientific American, "Black Hole Are Finally Trending," 7 Nov. 2020 This makes the sensor large enough to image a part of the sky that is equal to 40 full moons. — Ashley Strickland, CNN, "The world's largest digital camera could unlock mysteries of the universe," 8 Sep. 2020 To get a better handle on what salvia is doing in the brain, in future studies Doss would want to image the brains of individuals on salvia at multiple doses—and cross reference those patterns to the ways their brains behave on classic psychedelics. — Daniel Oberhaus, Wired, "This Is My Brain on Salvia," 14 Oct. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'image.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

History and Etymology for image

Noun

Middle English, "effigy, figure, mental impression of something observed, reflection, resemblance," borrowed from Anglo-French, shortened from imagene, borrowed from Latin imāgin-, imāgō "representation, reflection, apparition, semblance, copy, visible form," from imā- (probably the stem of an otherwise unattested verb *imārī with the same base as imitārī "to follow as a pattern, copy") + -gin-, -gō, denominal or deverbal noun suffix — more at imitate

Verb

Middle English imagen, in part derivative of image image entry 1, in part borrowed from Middle French ymagier "to imagine," derivative of image

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Last Updated

25 Feb 2021

Cite this Entry

“Image.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/image. Accessed 7 Mar. 2021.

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More Definitions for image

image

noun

English Language Learners Definition of image

: a picture that is produced by a camera, artist, mirror, etc.

: a mental picture : the thought of how something looks or might look

: the idea that people have about someone or something

See the full definition for image in the English Language Learners Dictionary

image

noun

im·age | \ ˈi-mij

Kids Definition of image

1 : a picture or reflection of something produced by a device (as a mirror or lens) We watched the images on the screen.

2 : someone who looks very much like another She is the image of her mother.

3 : the thought of how something looks An image appeared in his head of his parents hugging each other and crying.— Louis Sachar, Holes

4 : a representation (as a picture or statue) of something

5 : an idea of what someone or something is like He has an image as a troublemaker.

image

noun

im·age | \ ˈim-ij

Medical Definition of image

(Entry 1 of 2)

1a : the optical counterpart of an object produced by an optical device (as a lens or mirror) or an electronic device — see real image, virtual image

b : a likeness of an object produced on a photographic material

2 : a mental picture or impression of something had a negative body image of herself : as

a(1) : a mental conception held in common by members of a group and symbolic of a basic attitude and orientation the compassionate small-town family doctor, an image that the AMA deeply admires — Current Biography

(2) : an idealized conception of a person and especially a parent that is formed by an infant or child, is retained in the unconscious, and influences behavior in later life the overwhelming influence of the mother image— John Messenger

— called also imago

b : the memory of a perception in psychology that is modified by subsequent experience also : the representation of the source of a stimulus on a receptor mechanism

image

verb

imaged; imaging

Medical Definition of image (Entry 2 of 2)

transitive verb

1 : to call up a mental picture of : imagine

2 : to create a representation of also : to form an image of the liver was imaged the animals were anesthetized and imaged with a gamma camera — R. T. Proffitt et al.

intransitive verb

: to form an image

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