Definitions for ideaaɪˈdi ə, aɪˈdiə

This page provides all possible meanings and translations of the word idea

Random House Webster's College Dictionary

i•de•a*aɪˈdi ə, aɪˈdiə(n.)


  2. a thought, conception, or notion.

  3. an impression:

    Give me a general idea of what happened.

  4. an opinion, view, or belief.

  5. a plan of action; intention:

    with the idea of becoming an engineer.

  6. a purpose or guiding principle:

    What was the idea of that?

  7. a groundless supposition; fantasy.

  8. Philos. a concept developed by the mind. a conception of what is desirable or ought to be; ideal. (cap.) Platonism. an archetype or pattern of which the individual objects in any natural class are imperfect copies and from which they derive their being.

    Category: Philosphy

    Ref: Also called form. 1 12 3

  9. a musical theme or figure.

    Category: Music and Dance

  10. Obs. a likeness. a mental image.

* Syn: idea , thought , conception , notion refer to a product of mental activity. idea refers to a mental representation that is the product of creative imagination: She had an excellent idea for the party. thought emphasizes the intellectual processes of reasoning, contemplating, reflecting, or recollecting: I welcomed his thoughts on the subject. conception suggests imaginative, creative, and somewhat intricate mental activity: The architect's conception of the building was a glass skyscraper. notion suggests a fleeting, vague, or imperfect thought: I had only a bare notion of how to proceed.Pron: See police.

Origin of idea:

1400–50; late ME idee < MF < LL < Gk idéā form, kind, sort


Princeton's WordNet

  1. idea, thought(noun)

    the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about


  2. mind, idea(noun)

    your intention; what you intend to do


  3. idea(noun)

    a personal view

    "he has an idea that we don't like him"

  4. estimate, estimation, approximation, idea(noun)

    an approximate calculation of quantity or degree or worth


  5. theme, melodic theme, musical theme, idea(noun)

    (music) melodic subject of a musical composition


Kernerman English Learner's Dictionary

  1. idea(noun)ɪˈdi ə, aɪˈdiə

    sth you think of; = thought

    I have an idea - let's go to the park.; At first they didn't know what to do. Then Shirley had an idea.

  2. ideaɪˈdi ə, aɪˈdiə

    an opinion

    His ideas about married life are a little old-fashioned.; her interesting ideas on religion

  3. ideaɪˈdi ə, aɪˈdiə

    understanding or knowledge of sth

    He has no idea how to get there.; Can you give me a rough idea of what he looks like.


  1. idea(Noun)

    An abstract archetype of a given thing, compared to which real-life examples are seen as imperfect approximations; pure essence, as opposed to actual examples.

  2. idea(Noun)

    The conception of someone or something as representing a perfect example; an ideal.

  3. idea(Noun)

    The form or shape of something; a quintessential aspect or characteristic.

  4. idea(Noun)

    An image of an object that is formed in the mind or recalled by the memory.

    The mere idea of you is enough to excite me.

  5. idea(Noun)

    More generally, any result of mental activity; a thought, a notion; a way of thinking.

    Ideas won't go to jail.u2014A. Whitney Griswold (1952)

  6. idea(Noun)

    A conception in the mind of something to be done; a plan for doing something, an intention.

    I have an idea of how we might escape.

  7. idea(Noun)

    A vague or fanciful notion; a feeling or hunch; an impression.

    He had the wild idea that if he leant forward a little, he might be able to touch the mountain-top.

  8. idea(Noun)

    A musical theme or melodic subject.

  9. Origin: From idea, from ἰδέα, from εἴδω.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Idea(noun)


  2. Idea(noun)

    a general notion, or a conception formed by generalization

  3. Idea(noun)


  4. Idea(noun)


  5. Idea(noun)

    a plan or purpose of action; intention; design

  6. Idea(noun)


  7. Idea(noun)



  1. Idea


British National Corpus

  1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'idea' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #445

  2. Written Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'idea' in Written Corpus Frequency: #371

  3. Nouns Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'idea' in Nouns Frequency: #66

Translations for idea

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary


opinion; belief

I have an idea that it won't work.

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