(Translated by https://www.hiragana.jp/)
Image | Definition of image by Merriam-Webster

The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/web/20150912032256/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/image

Join Us On

An Encyclopædia Britannica Company

Browse Dictionary Browse Thesaurus

Get our free apps!iPhone•iPad•Android

Dictionary

¹image

noun im·age \ˈi-mij\

: 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

Full Definition of IMAGE

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

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

b : a visual representation of something: as (1) : a likeness of an object produced on a photographic material (2) : a picture produced on an electronic display (as a television or computer screen)

a : 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>

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

b archaic : an illusory form : apparition

a (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

: a vivid or graphic representation or description

: figure of speech

: 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>

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

See image defined for English-language learners

See image defined for kids

Examples of IMAGE

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

Origin of IMAGE

Middle English, from Anglo-French, short for imagene, from Latin imagin-, imago; perhaps akin to Latin imitari to imitate

First Known Use: 13th century

Related to IMAGE

Synonyms: alter ego, carbon, carbon copy, clone, counterpart, doppelgänger (or doppelganger), double, duplicate, duplication, facsimile, fetch, likeness, look-alike, match, mirror image, picture, replica, ringer, spit, spitting image, twin

Other Pictures (on film) Terms

daguerreotype, emulsion, fill, sepia, still, stop

Rhymes with IMAGE

scrimmage

²image

verb

im·agedim·ag·ing

Definition of IMAGE

transitive verb

: to call up a mental picture of : imagine

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

a : 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

a : reflect, mirror

b : to make appear : project

— im·ag·er \ˈi-mi-jər\ noun

Examples of IMAGE

<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>