idea

plural ideas · plural rare ideæ

1. human sciencesAn abstract archetype of a given thing, compared to which real-life examples are seen as imperfect approximations; pure essence, as opposed to actual examples.First known use 14th c.

   1 more example

   The idea that the same experiments always get the same results, no matter who performs them, is one of the cornerstones of science’s claim to objective truth. If a systematic campaign of replication does not lead to the same results, then either the original research is flawed (as the replicators claim) or the replications are (as many of the original researchers on priming contend). Either way, something is awry.

   2013 October 19, “Trouble at the lab”, in The Economist, volume 409, number 8858

2. obsoleteThe conception of someone or something as representing a perfect example; an ideal.First known use 16th–19th c.
3. obsoleteThe form or shape of something; a quintessential aspect or characteristic.First known use 16th–18th c.

   The remembrance whereof (which yet I beare deepely imprinted in my minde) representing me her visage and Idea so lively and so naturally, doth in some sort reconcile me unto her.

   1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 6, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC

4. An image of an object that is formed in the mind or recalled by the memory.First known use 16th c.

   The mere idea of you is enough to excite me.

5. More generally, any result of mental activity; a thought, a notion; a way of thinking.First known use 17th c.

   Ideas won't go to jail.

   1952, Alfred Whitney Griswold, (Please provide the book title or journal name)

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   Now all this was very fine, but not at all in keeping with the Celebrity's character as I had come to conceive it. The idea that adulation ever cloyed on him was ludicrous in itself. In fact I thought the whole story fishy, and came very near to saying so.

   1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter III, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC

6. A conception in the mind of something to be done; a plan for doing something, an intention.First known use 17th c.

   I have an idea of how we might escape.

7. A purposeful aim or goal; intent.

   Yeah, that's the idea.

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   My hopes wa'n't disappointed. I never saw clams thicker than they was along them inshore flats. I filled my dreener in no time, and then it come to me that 'twouldn't be a bad idee to get a lot more, take 'em with me to Wellmouth, and peddle 'em out. Clams was fairly scarce over that side of the bay and ought to fetch a fair price.

   1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter III, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC

   Finance is seldom romantic. But the idea of peer-to-peer lending comes close. This is an industry that brings together individual savers and lenders on online platforms. Those that want to borrow are matched with those that want to lend.

   2013 June 1, “End of the peer show”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, page 71

8. A vague or fanciful notion; a feeling or hunch; an impression.First known use 17th c.

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

9. entertainmentA musical theme or melodic subject.First known use 18th c.

1. abbreviationacronymAcronym of International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance.

   "To fight back, democracies need to protect key elements of democracy, like elections and the rule of law, but also profoundly reform government so that it delivers fairness, inclusion and shared prosperity," the IDEA said.

   2025 September 11, “US democratic backsliding under Trump encourages autocrats globally, democracy watchdog says”, in Reuters