idealism

English

Etymology

First attested 1796, from ideal +‎ -ism.

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.

Synonyms

• (philosophy): philosophical idealism

Antonyms

• (philosophy): materialism

Derived terms

• epistemological idealism
• metaphysical 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)
• French: idéalisme (fr) m
• German: please add this translation if you can
• Greek: ιδεαλισμός (el) m (idealismós)
• Ido: idealismo (io)
• Irish: idéalachas m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Latvian: please add this translation if you can
• Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
• Polish: please add this translation if you can
• 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)

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) (wéixīn zhǔyì), 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)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Ido: idealismo (io)
• Irish: idéalachas m
• Italian: idealismo (it) m
• Japanese: 観念論 (かんねんろん, kannenron), イデアリスム (idearizumu)
• 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