ideate

verb

ide·ate ˈī-dē-ˌāt

ideated; ideating

Synonyms of ideate next

transitive verb

: to form an idea or conception of

intransitive verb

: to form an idea

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See the Origin of Ideate

Like idea and ideal, ideate comes from the Greek verb idein, which means “to see.” The sight-thought connection came courtesy of Plato, the Greek philosopher who based his theory of the ideal on the concept of seeing, claiming that a true philosopher can see the essential nature of things and can recognize their ideal form or state. Early uses of idea, ideal, and ideate in English were associated with Platonic philosophy; idea meant “an archetype” or “a standard of perfection,” ideal meant “existing as an archetype,” and ideate referred to forming Platonic ideas. But though ideate is tied to ancient philosophy, the word itself is a modern concoction, relatively speaking. It first appeared in English only about 400 years ago.

Examples of ideate in a Sentence

the psychotic would repeatedly ideate the act of committing murder, and eventually he came to believe his own delusions

Recent Examples on the Web

These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Make sure to have fun when ideating and creating your family Halloween costume. —

Casey Clark, Parents, 20 Sep. 2024 His primary role is to ideate and drive the Edge Solution Strategy,... —

John Lockhart, Forbes, 11 Sep. 2024 To ideate her brand’s next chapter, Huda Kattan is going back to her roots. —

James Manso, WWD, 13 Aug. 2024 Those willing to participate and evolve with consumers are seeing opportunities to ideate and create in ways that highlight both the consumers’ interest and the creator’s message. —

Partner Content, Variety, 13 Aug. 2024 See all Example Sentences for ideate