[i-maj-uh-ney-shuh
n] 
| 1. | the faculty of imagining, or of forming mental images or concepts of what is not actually present to the senses. |
| 2. | the action or process of forming such images or concepts. |
| 3. | the faculty of producing ideal creations consistent with reality, as in literature, as distinct from the power of creating illustrative or decorative imagery. Compare fancy (def. 2). |
| 4. | the product of imagining; a conception or mental creation, often a baseless or fanciful one. |
| 5. | ability to face and resolve difficulties; resourcefulness: a job that requires imagination. |
| 6. | Psychology. the power of reproducing images stored in the memory under the suggestion of associated images (reproductive imagination) or of recombining former experiences in the creation of new images directed at a specific goal or aiding in the solution of problems (creative imagination). |
| 7. | (in Kantian epistemology) synthesis of data from the sensory manifold into objects by means of the categories. |
| 8. | Archaic. a plan, scheme, or plot. |
| i·mag·i·na·tion (ĭ-māj'ə-nā'shən) n.
Synonyms: These nouns refer to the power of the mind to form images, especially of what is not present to the senses. Imagination is the most broadly applicable: "In the world of words, the imagination is one of the forces of nature" (Wallace Stevens). |