imaginärer

Imaginärer is the German adjective meaning “imaginary” and is used in several academic and literary contexts to denote that which exists only in the mind or lacks physical reality. In mathematics, the term appears most prominently in reference to imaginary numbers, which are multiples of the imaginary unit i (i² = –1). Such numbers extend the real number line to the complex plane and are essential in fields ranging from electrical engineering to quantum physics. The phrase „imaginäre Zahlen“ therefore designates the set of numbers that cannot be expressed as a real quantity alone but only as a combination of a real part and an imaginary part.

In linguistics and literary theory, imaginär describes concepts, characters, or narratives that are created by the imagination rather than derived from factual experience. The notion of imaginärer Raum, for example, refers to a mental space in which ideas and images interact without material constraints. In psychology, the term is employed when discussing imaginal processes, such as visualisation, fantasy, or the inner life of patients.

Outside technical usage, imaginärer may function as a descriptive qualifier for artistic works that deliberately invoke unreality, such as surreal paintings or speculative fiction. By signalling that the subject is not empirically verifiable, the word helps to delineate the boundary between observable phenomena and those that reside solely within human cognition.