English
ideal
Ideal comes from French idéal, from Late Latin ideālis ‘existing in idea’, from Latin idea.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEidea‘idea’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEideālis‘existing in idea’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentidéal
- Englishearliest quotation 1796ideal
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEidea‘idea’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEideālis‘existing in idea’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentidéal
- Englishearliest quotation 1796ideal
Earliest quotation: 1796, Matthew Lewis, The Monk: “The idea of ghosts is ridiculous in the extreme;…”
Equivalent to idea + -al
Proto-Indo-European *weyd- ‘to know; see’
Ancient Greek εἴδω ‘to see’
Ancient Greek ἰδέα ‘notion, pattern’
Latin idea ‘a (Platonic) idea; archetype’
English idea
The story
In mathematics, the noun ring theory sense was first introduced by German mathematician Richard Dedekind in his 1871 edition of a text on number theory.disputed Scholars disagree here; the competing view is quoted as the source gives it. The concept was quickly expanded to ring theory and later generalised to order theory.disputed Scholars disagree here; the competing view is quoted as the source gives it. The set theory and Lie theory senses can be regarded as applications of the order theory sense.disputed Scholars disagree here; the competing view is quoted as the source gives it.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *weyd- ‘to see’
story, guy, review, visit, advice, interview, video, evidence, provide, vision, witness, wise, historic, wisdom, guide, visa, advise, invisible, wit, wizard, historian, visibility, vista, idol, witty, evident, revise, guise, envious, prudent, steroid, revue, improvise, tabloid, jurisprudence, avis, prudence, purview, twit, druid, 120 more
Today it means
adj Pertaining to ideas, or to a given idea.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin idea / ideal