imago

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the final, sexually mature stage of an insect after metamorphosis

   After leaving the pupa, the imago expands its wings before taking flight.

2. 2
   noun

   in psychology, an idealized and often unconscious mental image of another person, especially a parent

   The therapist explored how his childhood imago of an infallible father shaped later relationships.

Borrowed from Latin imago, 'image, likeness, representation,' and therefore a doublet of image. Scientific Latin used it for the insect's definitive adult form, as though the mature creature were its completed image. Psychology later used the Latin term for an idealized inner image of a person.

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