Meanings
nounimago (plural imagines or imagos or imagoes)
plural imagines · plural imagos · plural imagoes
- biologyThe final developmental stage of an insect after undergoing metamorphosis.
‘But still,’ he said to himself, drawing the metamorphoses of a red admiral, egg, caterpillar, chrysalis and imago on his pad, ‘what shall I say to him when we meet?’
1973, Patrick O'Brian, HMS Surprise - human sciencesAn idealised concept of a loved one, formed in childhood and retained unconsciously into adult life, the basis for the psychological formation of personality archetypes.
Origin
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 成蟲 /成虫
- 成蟲 /成虫 (chéngchóng)development stage of an insect
Czech dospělec, imago
- dospělecdevelopment stage of an insect
- imagodevelopment stage of an insect
Finnish imago
- imagodevelopment stage of an insect
German Vollkerf
- Vollkerfdevelopment stage of an insect
Indonesian imago
- imagodevelopment stage of an insect
Irish iomágó
- iomágódevelopment stage of an insect
Italian imago
- imagodevelopment stage of an insect
Japanese 成虫
- 成虫 (seichū)development stage of an insect
Polish imago
- imagodevelopment stage of an insect
Russian има́го
- има́го (imágo)development stage of an insect
Swedish imago
- imagodevelopment stage of an insect
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
imago. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/imago
MLA
“imago.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/imago. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “imago,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/imago.
Source: imago on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.