ideate

English

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *weyd-der.

Ancient Greek ῐ̓δεῖν (ĭdeîn)

Ancient Greek ῐ̓δέᾱ (ĭdéā)der.

Latin ideabor.

English idea

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-tós

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂tos

Proto-Italic *-ātos

Latin -ātuslbor.

English -ate

English ideate

From idea + -ate (verb-forming suffix).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈaɪdieɪt/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

Verb

ideate (third-person singular simple present ideates, present participle ideating, simple past and past participle ideated)

1. To apprehend in thought so as to fix and hold in the mind; to memorize.
2. To generate an idea.

   Coordinate terms: brainstorm, innovate; brainchild (rare)

   • 2023, Devika Rege, Quarterlife, Dialogue Books (2025), page 358:

     Two thousand young men and women from across the country had gathered under canvas tents on a public ground for a weekend of ideating and networking.

Derived terms

• ideation
• ideational
• ideationally
• ideative
• ideator

Related terms

• idealize

Translations

To apprehend in thought

• Bulgarian: представям си (predstavjam si)
• Catalan: idear (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 形成概念

• Czech: představovat si (cs) impf
• French: idéer (fr)
• Occitan: idear (oc)
• Portuguese: idear (pt)
• Spanish: idear (es)

Etymology 2

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *weyd-der.

Ancient Greek ῐ̓δεῖν (ĭdeîn)

Ancient Greek ῐ̓δέᾱ (ĭdéā)der.

Latin ideabor.

English idea

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-tós

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂tos

Proto-Italic *-ātos

Latin -ātuslbor.

English -ate

English ideate

From idea + -ate (adjective-forming suffix).

Adjective

ideate (not comparable)

1. Produced by an idea.

Etymology 3

From Late Latin ideatum. See idea.

Alternative forms

• ideat

Noun

ideate (plural ideates)

1. (metaphysics) The actual existence supposed to correspond with an idea; the correlate in real existence to the idea as a thought or existence.

Further reading

• “ideate”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “ideate”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

Italian

Verb

ideate

1. inflection of ideare:
   1. second-person plural present indicative
   2. second-person plural imperative

Spanish

Verb

ideate

1. second-person singular voseo imperative of idear combined with te