Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Ideal

I-de′al

,
Adj.
[L.
idealis
: cf. F.
idéal
.]
1.
Existing in idea or thought; conceptional; intellectual; mental;
as,
ideal
knowledge
.
2.
Reaching an imaginary standard of excellence; fit for a model; faultless;
as,
ideal
beauty
.
Byron.
There will always be a wide interval between practical and
ideal
excellence.
Rambler.
3.
Existing in fancy or imagination only; visionary; unreal.
“Planning ideal common wealth.”
Southey.
4.
Teaching the doctrine of idealism;
as, the
ideal
theory or philosophy
.
Syn. – Intellectual; mental; visionary; fanciful; imaginary; unreal; impracticable; utopian.

I-de′al

,
Noun.
A mental conception regarded as a standard of perfection; a model of excellence, beauty, etc.
The
ideal
is to be attained by selecting and assembling in one whole the beauties and perfections which are usually seen in different individuals, excluding everything defective or unseemly, so as to form a type or model of the species. Thus, the Apollo Belvedere is the
ideal
of the beauty and proportion of the human frame.
Fleming.
Beau ideal
.

Webster 1828 Edition


Ideal

IDE'AL

,
Adj.
Existing in idea; intellectual; mental; as ideal knowledge.
There will always be a wide interval between practical and ideal excellence.
1.
Visionary; existing in fancy or imagination only; as ideal good.
2.
That considers ideas as images, phantasms, or forms in the mind; as the ideal theory or philosophy.

Definition 2024


Ideal

Ideal

See also: ideal, ideał, ideál, and idéal

English

Proper noun

Ideal

  1. A city in Georgia, USA
  2. An unincorporated community in Illinois
  3. An unincorporated community in South Dakota

German

Pronunciation

  • Rhymes: -aːl

Noun

Ideal n (genitive Ideals, plural Ideale)

  1. ideal (perfect standard, standard of excellence)
  2. (mathematics) ideal

Declension

ideal

ideal

See also: Ideal, ideał, ideál, and idéal

English

Adjective

ideal (comparative more ideal, superlative most ideal)

  1. Optimal; being the best possibility.
  2. Perfect, flawless, having no defects.
    • Rambler
      There will always be a wide interval between practical and ideal excellence.
  3. Pertaining to ideas, or to a given idea.
  4. Existing only in the mind; conceptual, imaginary.
    • 1796, Matthew Lewis, The Monk, Folio Society 1985, p. 256:
      The idea of ghosts is ridiculous in the extreme; and if you continue to be swayed by ideal terrors —
    • 1818, Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus,Chapter 4,
      Life and death appeared to me ideal bounds, which I should first break through, and pour a torrent of light into our dark world.
  5. Teaching or relating to the doctrine of idealism.
    the ideal theory or philosophy
  6. (mathematics) Not actually present, but considered as present when limits at infinity are included.
    ideal point
    An ideal triangle in the hyperbolic disk is one bounded by three geodesics that meet precisely on the circle.

Synonyms

  • See also Wikisaurus:flawless

Related terms

Translations

Noun

ideal (plural ideals)

  1. A perfect standard of beauty, intellect etc., or a standard of excellence to aim at.
    Ideals are like stars; you will not succeed in touching them with your hands. But like the seafaring man on the desert of waters, you choose them as your guides, and following them you will reach your destiny - Carl Schurz
  2. (mathematics, order theory) A non-empty lower set (of a partially ordered set) which is closed under binary suprema (a.k.a. joins).
    If (1) the empty set were called a "small" set, and (2) any subset of a "small" set were also a "small" set, and (3) the union of any pair of "small" sets were also a "small" set, then the set of all "small" sets would form an ideal.
  3. (for example, algebra) A subring closed under multiplication by its containing ring.
    Let be the ring of integers and let be its ideal of even integers. Then the quotient ring is a Boolean ring.
    The product of two ideals and is an ideal which is a subset of the intersection of and . This should help to understand why maximal ideals are prime ideals. Likewise, the union of and is a subset of .

Antonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams


Asturian

Etymology

From Latin ideālis.

Adjective

ideal (epicene, plural ideales)

  1. ideal

Noun

ideal m (plural ideales)

  1. ideal

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin ideālis.

Adjective

ideal m, f (masculine and feminine plural ideals)

  1. ideal

Derived terms

Noun

ideal m (plural ideals)

  1. ideal

Galician

Etymology

From Latin ideālis.

Adjective

ideal m, f (plural ideais)

  1. ideal

Derived terms

Noun

ideal m (plural ideais)

  1. ideal

German

Etymology

Borrowing from Late Latin ideālis (existing in idea), from Latin idea (idea). Doublet of ideell.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ideˈaːl/
  • Rhymes: -aːl

Adjective

ideal (comparative idealer, superlative am idealsten)

  1. ideal (optimal, perfect)

Declension

Derived terms


Luxembourgish

Adjective

ideal (masculine idealen, neuter ideaalt, comparative méi ideal, superlative am ideaalsten)

  1. ideal

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From French

Noun

ideal n (definite singular idealet, indefinite plural ideal or idealer, definite plural ideala or idealene)

  1. an ideal

References


Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From French

Noun

ideal n (definite singular idealet, indefinite plural ideal, definite plural ideala)

  1. an ideal

References


Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin ideālis.

Pronunciation

  • (Portugal) IPA(key): /iˈðjaɫ/
  • Hyphenation: i‧de‧al

Adjective

ideal m, f (plural ideais, comparable)

  1. ideal
  2. notional

Derived terms

Noun

ideal m (plural ideais)

  1. ideal
  2. fantasy

Serbo-Croatian

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /iděaːl/
  • Hyphenation: i‧de‧al

Noun

idèāl m (Cyrillic spelling идѐа̄л)

  1. ideal

Declension


Spanish

Etymology

From Latin ideālis.

Adjective

ideal m, f (plural ideales)

  1. ideal

Derived terms

Noun

ideal m (plural ideales)

  1. ideal

Swedish

Pronunciation

Noun

ideal n

  1. ideal; perfect standard
  2. (mathematics) ideal; special subsets of a ring

Declension

Inflection of ideal 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative ideal idealet ideal idealen
Genitive ideals idealets ideals idealens

Turkish

Etymology

Borrowing from French idéal.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ideˈaɫ/
  • Hyphenation: i‧de‧al

Adjective

ideal (comparative daha ideal, superlative en ideal)

  1. ideal

Noun

ideal (definite accusative ideali, plural idealler)

  1. ideal

Declension

Synonyms