• EYE-dee-ayt • verb
1 : to form an idea or conception of 2 : to form an idea
[Ro] a-şi forma idei; a-şi forma noţiuni; a-şi forma concepţii; a(-şi) închipui; a concepe
Example sentence:
Joshua first ideated his vision of a water garden for his backyard after he went on a sightseeing tour of water fountains in Kansas City.
Water garden
Like idea and ideal, ideate comes from the Greek verb idein, which means to see. 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.
