imago

\i.ma.ɡo\

/\i.ma.ɡo\/ noun

The verdict

“imago” is uncommon French (frequency #58,675 among 3,561 “I” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#58,675
frequency rank, French
3,561
“I” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Forme définitive, adulte, d'un insecte sexué, devenu apte à la reproduction.

Corpus desk

Index FR-imago · imago · French

imago · rank #58,675 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #58,675
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,561
  • PHOTO-FINISH Imoca

Nearest frequency peer: Imoca (+1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rangs de longue queue près de « imago »

Bande clairsemée: les barres inversent le rang pour que le rare se lise plus court

corpus weight

What this shows Vue de longue queue: où « imago » se situe face à des rangs français aussi rares.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for imago
PropertyValue
Headwordimago
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\i.ma.ɡo\
Letters5
Frequency rank#58,675
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « imago » en français

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.imagotombe dans cette queue de rareté:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Les tics avancent en logarithme; chacun est de l'ordre de dix fois plus rare. Voisins rares de la même bande: « Imoca » (#58,676), « Idlib » (#58,673), « imprimez » (#58,677). Parmi 3,561 lemmes en « I », « imago » est au #58,675. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

imago is uncommon French at frequency #58,675 among 3,561 “I” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \i.ma.ɡo\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for imago, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable French rules. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct French form is imago, spelled I-M-A-G-O.

Definition

  1. 1
    Forme définitive, adulte, d'un insecte sexué, devenu apte à la reproduction.
  2. 2
    Représentation imaginaire, plus ou moins consciente qu’une personne se fait d’elle-même et de ses parents.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how imago appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. La pupe est formée par la dernière exuvie larvaire rétractée qui constitue un puparium chitinisé, dur et résistant. La pupe enferme la nymphe et ne permet pas de distinguer les parties de l’imago.
  2. Carl Gustav Jung introduit la notion d’imago en 1911 dans Métamorphoses et symboles de la libido : il décrit alors une imago maternelle, paternelle, fraternelle.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "imago"?
"imago" is spelled I-M-A-G-O. The IPA pronunciation is \i.ma.ɡo\.
What does "imago" mean?
As a noun, "imago" means: Forme définitive, adulte, d'un insecte sexué, devenu apte à la reproduction.
How do you pronounce "imago"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "imago" is \i.ma.ɡo\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "imago" come from?
"imago" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "imago", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list