Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Ideal"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Ideal \I*de"al\, a. [L. idealis: cf. F. id['e]al.]
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.
5. (Math.) Imaginary.
Syn: Intellectual; mental; visionary; fanciful; imaginary;
unreal; impracticable; utopian.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Ideal \I*de"al\, n.
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}. See {Beau ideal}.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
ideal
adj 1: conforming to an ultimate standard of perfection or
excellence; embodying an ideal
2: represented in the abstract rather than as they really are
[syn: {idealistic}]
3: constituting or existing only in the form of an idea or
mental image or conception; "a poem or essay may be
typical of its period in idea or ideal content"
4: of or relating to the philosophical doctrine of the reality
of ideas [syn: {idealistic}]
n 1: the idea of something that is perfect; something that one
hopes to attain
2: model of excellence or perfection of a kind; one having no
equal [syn: {paragon}, {nonpareil}, {saint}, {apotheosis},
{nonesuch}, {nonsuch}]
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