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PlainSpell

imagine

i·ma·gine/ɪˈmæd͡ʒ.ɪn/verb, noun

imagine is spelled I-M-A-G-I-N-E: 7 letters and 3 syllables (i·ma·gine). It appears 83 times per million words in written English, the 1,272nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, imagine means “To form a mental image of something; to envision or create something in one's mind” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in imagine?

Letters7: I-M-A-G-I-N-E
Syllables3: i·ma·gine
In writing83 times per million words; the 1,272nd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is imagine?

Imagine appears 83 times per million words in written English, the 1,272nd most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce imagine?

  • /ɪˈmæd͡ʒ.ɪn/
  • /əˈmæd͡ʒ.ɪn/
  • /ɘˈmɛd͡ʒ.ɘn/

Imagine has 3 syllables, split i·ma·gine in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-imagine.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of imagine

  • imagines present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • imagining participle, present
  • imagined participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does imagine mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    To form a mental image of something; to envision or create something in one's mind.

    Try to imagine a pink elephant.

  2. 2

    To believe in something created by one's own mind, often something false.

    She imagined that the man wanted to kill her.

  3. 3

    To assume; to suppose.

    I imagine that he will need to rest after such a long flight.

  4. 4

    To conjecture; to guess.

    I cannot even imagine what you are up to!

  5. 5

    To use one's imagination.

    Imagine that we were siblings.

  6. 6

    obsoleteTo contrive in purpose; to scheme; to devise.

  7. 7

    Used to mock an idea by suggesting that it is ridiculous or ill thought through.

    Imagine thinking that would work.

noun

  1. 1

    slangA short fanfic or prompt placing a reader insert in a novel scenario with a character or celebrity.

    If I get inspired immediately, I can bust out an imagine in 5-10 minutes.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Imagine in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchimaginer ((transitive) to form a mental image of something)
Germanvorstellen, einbilden ((transitive) to form a mental image of something)
Portugueseimaginar ((transitive) to form a mental image of something), crer, achar, pensar ((transitive) to assume), fantasiar ((intransitive) to use one's imagination)
Spanishimaginar, flashear ((transitive) to form a mental image of something), imaginarse ((transitive) to assume)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does imagine come from?

From Middle English ymagynen, from Middle French imaginer, from Latin imāginor, from imāginem, the accusative singular of imāgō (“a copy, likeness, image”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after imagine