imagelessadj.
/ˈɪmɪdʒlᵻs/, U.S. /ˈɪmɪdʒlᵻs/ Not having an image or images; not represented by an image or images.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > representation > [adjective] > of nature of or resembling a representation > without a
imageless1654
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > plastic art > statuary > [adjective] > furnished with statues > without statues
imageless1883
1654 J. Ellistone & J. Sparrow tr. J. Böhme Mysterium Magnum lxx. 532 Which inward Man, is now no more called Adam, but Christ, viz. being a Member of the Body and Substance of Christ..and it is a forme or Image of the Imagelesse Deity [Ger. eine Form der vnbildlichen Gottheit]; viz. the Imaged Word of God.
1664 J. Owen Vindic. Animadversions Fiat Lux xxi. 493 They positively deny that they had any images or made any use of them, and defend themselves against the charge of the Pagans against them for professing an imageless Religion.
1762 T. Gent Hist. Great Eastern Window St. Peter's Cathedral, York iii. xii. 170 Reverberating Rocks by imageless Ecchoes.
a1788 W. J. Mickle Siege Marseilles iii. ii, in Poems & Trag. (1794) 273 O sweet heaven, What sudden bodings, cold and imageless, Glide thro' my breast!
1820 P. B. Shelley Prometheus Unbound ii. iv. 87 The deep truth is imageless.
1883 M. Williams Relig. Thought & Life in India viii. 227 Becaraji has numerous imageless shrines.
1885 J. E. Harrison Stud. Greek Art iii. 85 The worship of an imageless Jehovah.
a1930 D. H. Lawrence Last Poems (1932) 214 The gods are nameless and imageless.
1997 N.Y. Times 11 Apr. b 23/2 At first glance, what the viewer sees is a top layer of imageless glasslike gloss that shimmers with subtle tonalities.
Compounds
imageless thought n. Psychology now chiefly historical a thought that does not contain specific conscious representations or images; the process of thinking such thoughts.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > thought > product of thinking, thought > matter of thought > [noun] > lacking images
imageless thought1896
imageless thinking1911
1896 G. F. Stout Analyt. Psychol. I. i. iv. 85 An imageless thought is no absurdity, however opposed such a conception may be to..those who..regard consciousness as a kind of picture gallery.
1909 E. B. Titchener Lect. Exper. Psychol. Thought-processes iii. 113 Binet..gives illustrations of imageless thought that must undoubtedly be classed with the conscious attitudes.
1972 Science 12 May 630/2 This casual attitude toward definition means that he need never ask whether..there are ‘imageless’ concepts or thoughts.
2006 J. J. Prinz in T. S. Gendler & J. Hawthorne Perceptual Experience xii. 453 Defenders of imageless thought got subjects to claim that they were not experiencing any images when they formed the intention to move, and opponents..got subjects to explain every aspect..imagistically.
imageless thinking n. Psychology now chiefly historical the process of thinking imageless thoughts.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > thought > product of thinking, thought > matter of thought > [noun] > lacking images
imageless thought1896
imageless thinking1911
1911 Mind 20 108 The extreme verbal type might champion a pure ideationism or imageless thinking.
1920 S. Alexander Space, Time & Deity I. 213 Observation..has convinced us of the existence of ‘imageless thinking’, which seemed so inconceivable to some earlier psychologists.
2007 G. Mandler Hist. Mod. Exper. Psychol. v. 88 If one carefully observes one's own thought process, does one find imageless thinking or not? At first glance, this seems to be a factual question.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
adj.1654