idealism

English

Etymology

First attested 1796, from ideal +‎ -ism.

Pronunciation

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Noun

idealism (countable and uncountable, plural idealisms)

1. The property of a person of having high ideals that are usually unrealizable or at odds with practical life.
2. The practice or habit of giving or attributing ideal form or character to things; treatment of things in art or literature according to ideal standards or patterns;—opposed to realism.
3. (philosophy) An approach to philosophical enquiry, which asserts that direct and immediate knowledge can only be had of ideas or mental pictures.

   Synonym: philosophical idealism

   Antonym: materialism

Derived terms

• absolute idealism
• epistemological idealism
• metaphysical idealism
• transcendental idealism

 

Related terms

• idealist
• idealistic
• idealistically
• perfectionism

Translations

property of a person of having high ideals that are usually unrealizable

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Catalan: idealisme (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 理想主义 (zh) (lǐxiǎngzhǔyì)

• Estonian: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: idealismi (fi), idealistisuus
• French: idéalisme (fr) m
• German: Idealismus (de) m
• Greek: ιδεαλισμός (el) m (idealismós)
• Ido: idealismo (io)
• Irish: idéalachas m
• Japanese: 理想主義 (ja) (りそうしゅ​ぎ, risō shugi)
• Korean: 이상주의(理想主義) (isangjuui), 리상주의(理想主義) (risangjuui) (North Korea)
• Latvian: please add this translation if you can
• Lithuanian: idealizmas m
• Polish: idealizm (pl) m
• Romanian: idealism (ro) n
• Russian: идеали́зм (ru) m (idealízm)
• Slovene: idealizem m
• Spanish: idealismo (es) m
• Tagalog: pagkamauliran, pagkamakauliran
• Turkish: ülkücülük (tr), idealizm (tr)
• Ukrainian: ідеалі́зм (uk) m (idealízm)

practice of giving ideal character

• Finnish: idealisointi, idealisaatio, idealismi (fi)
• German: Idealisierung (de) m
• Indonesian: idealisme (id)
• Polish: idealizm (pl) m
• Russian: please add this translation if you can
• Spanish: please add this translation if you can

an approach to philosophical enquiry

• Arabic: مِثَالِيَّة‎ f (miṯāliyya)
• Armenian: իդեալիզմ (hy) (idealizm)
• Bulgarian: идеали́зъм (bg) m (idealízǎm)
• Catalan: idealisme (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 唯心主義／唯心主义 (zh) (wéixīnzhǔyì)

• Czech: idealismus m
• Esperanto: ideismo
• Finnish: idealismi (fi)
• French: idéalisme (fr) m
• Galician: idealismo m
• German: Idealismus (de) m
• Greek: ιδεαλισμός (el) m (idealismós)
• Hindi: प्रत्ययवाद (hi) m (pratyayvād)
• Icelandic: hughyggja f
• Ido: idealismo (io)
• Indonesian: idealisme (id)
• Irish: idéalachas m
• Italian: idealismo (it) m
• Japanese: 観念論 (ja) (かんねんろん, kannenron), イデアリスム (idearizumu)
• Lithuanian: idealizmas m
• Polish: idealizm (pl) m
• Portuguese: idealismo (pt) m
• Romanian: idealism (ro) n
• Russian: идеали́зм (ru) m (idealízm)
• Serbo-Croatian: idealizam (sh) m
• Slovene: idealizem m
• Spanish: idealismo (es) m
• Tagalog: pagkamauliran, pagkamakauliran
• Turkish: idealizm (tr)
• Ukrainian: ідеалі́зм (uk) m (idealízm)

See also

• realism
• pragmatism
• materialism
• physicalism

References

• “idealism”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “idealism”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Further reading

• "idealism" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 152.

Anagrams

• email IDs, miladies

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French idéalisme. Equivalent to ideal +‎ -ism.

Noun

idealism n (uncountable)

1. idealism

Declension

declension of idealism (singular only)

	singular
n gender	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) idealism	idealismul
genitive/dative	(unui) idealism	idealismului
vocative	idealismule

Related terms

• idealist