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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.
Synonyms
Examples of ideate in a Sentence
Sandy Carter, Forbes, 1 Nov. 2024
Many of them resent giving up the flexibility of hybrid or fully at-home work in favor of ideating in an open-concept office in hard pants.
—Jolie Myers, Vox, 7 Dec. 2018
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
See all Example Sentences for ideate 
Dictionary Entries Near ideate
Cite this Entry
“Ideate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ideate. Accessed 29 Nov. 2024.
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