*SET-U

Chambers (1908)

Idol

Read this edition’s complete source entry.

Englishe-38538-4834Historical source · not a reviewed *SET-U verdictRead the source ↗

This edition’s origin note

[O. Fr. idole—L. idolum—Gr. eidōlon—eidos, what is seen—idein, to see.]

Original source wording, not an independently verified *SET-U conclusion.

The complete extracted entry

e-38538-4834

Historical source text, not a reviewed *SET-U analysis. Claims and terminology belong to this edition.

Idol, ī′dul, n. a figure: an image of some object of worship: a person or thing too much loved or honoured: any phantom of the brain, or any false appearance by which men are led into error or prejudice which prevents impartial observation, a fallacy—also Idō′lon, Idō′lum:—pl. Idō′la—Bacon (Novum Organum, i. § 38) makes these four in number—Idols of the nation or tribe; Idols of the den or cave (fallacies due to personal causes); Idols of the forum (those due to the influence of words or phrases); Idols of the theatre (those due to misconceptions of philosophic system or demonstration).—v.t. I′dolīse, to make an idol of, for worship: to love to excess.—ns. Idolīs′er; I′dolism (Milt.), idolatrous worship; I′dolist (Milt.), an idolater; Idol′oclast, a breaker of images.—adj. Idolograph′ical, treating of idols. [O. Fr. idole—L. idolum—Gr. eidōlon—eidos, what is seen—idein, to see.]

Source locator ebook:38538;section:dictionary;paragraph:4856;continuation-paragraphs:0;html-characters:2000398-2001913

Where interpretation must slow down

  • Historical scholarship from 1908; not current consensus or editorial verification.
  • Historical text may contain offensive, obsolete or inaccurate language and classifications.
  • Public-domain determination applies to the United States; other jurisdictions require separate confirmation.
  • Chambers consulted earlier dictionaries including Skeat and the New English Dictionary; overlapping claims are not independent scholarly votes.

An old root, gloss or concordance number does not determine the meaning of every later use. A word’s origin and its modern meaning are different questions.

This page does not invent a manuscript attestation, a sound-change sequence, a modern scholarly verdict or a complete ancestor tree. Missing detail is a limit of this source record, not necessarily a limit of scholarship.

Find other records with this spelling →

Edition, rights and traceability

Chambers’s Twentieth Century Dictionary of the English Language
Thomas Davidson (editor)
1908

Public-domain-US ↗ · United States

Publisher marks these historical texts public domain in the USA. Transformed book text excludes Gutenberg branding; source attribution is a bibliographic acknowledgment. No non-US public-domain determination is made.

The full extracted entry is rendered as plain text. Formatting and navigation are added by *SET-U; source wording is not silently rewritten as new analysis.

Coverage: the complete A–Z main-entry clusters and dictionary Addenda. Derivative words remain within their original entry clusters. Non-dictionary appendices and standalone illustrations are excluded.

Original entry or artifact ↗Source edition and credits ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source audit fields
Source locator
ebook:38538;section:dictionary;paragraph:4856;continuation-paragraphs:0;html-characters:2000398-2001913
Source record SHA-256
ab5bbd6a7ef56f2acfd4633dc4ff1a813b39c2b2e7dcbc1b82681f5d44e440e8
Records SHA-256
fe553f4cc08e11f2f222d5bd4706ae9585f8951c8374a3edc0fcc03264dbbea9
Published snapshot
00f489ccce5cccc78b796c10de36f4f0d18709073434ccf9285eb201d4ac39ca
Acquired
2026-11-05T09:16:04.758Z · acquisition date, not first attestation
Parser
chambers-1908-1
  • Source artifact ↗ · 3,407,997 bytes555d2991c0d7cc611a61c79935db172efe6bb5becb074253788d90dafd0b6b08
  • Source artifact ↗ · 537 bytes781eff3f628c95b2a1cae38d73f1c2fa4672ffd6b08e38f65c1f5ca5a4e663ac
  • Source artifact ↗ · 3,773,892 bytes912196a924c239e3ccc550bbb1f8515ce77bbd271ebf777b27fc468174ac32f8
  • Source artifact ↗ · 537 bytes781eff3f628c95b2a1cae38d73f1c2fa4672ffd6b08e38f65c1f5ca5a4e663ac
  • Source artifact ↗ · 2,804,092 bytes4a647fbb3ce598efbe36554cdc02b070b3f5edf5ba2e41fcd36328f18a26c4e8
  • Source artifact ↗ · 537 bytes781eff3f628c95b2a1cae38d73f1c2fa4672ffd6b08e38f65c1f5ca5a4e663ac
  • Source artifact ↗ · 4,392,053 bytes222c6725b7618cc03250863a64cce04c859c3378caa03b347376611c0668b33d
  • Source artifact ↗ · 537 bytes781eff3f628c95b2a1cae38d73f1c2fa4672ffd6b08e38f65c1f5ca5a4e663ac