Etymograph

English

ideal

Ideal comes from French idéal, from Late Latin ideālis ‘existing in idea’, from Latin idea.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEidea1‘idea’
  2. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEideālis2‘existing in idea’
  3. Frenchc. 1600–presentidéal2
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1796ideal2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin idealis
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English ideal
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1796, Matthew Lewis, The Monk: “The idea of ghosts is ridiculous in the extreme;…”.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEideaWiktionary, Latin idealis‘idea’
  2. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEideālisWiktionary, English ideal‘existing in idea’
  3. Frenchc. 1600–presentidéalWiktionary, English ideal
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1796idealWiktionary, English ideal. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1796, Matthew Lewis, The Monk: “The idea of ghosts is ridiculous in the extreme;…”

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.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

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, 119 more

Today it means

adj Pertaining to ideas, or to a given idea.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “ideal”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin idealis. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin idea / ideal

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