a. [ L. idealis: cf. F. idéal. ]
There will always be a wide interval between practical and ideal excellence. Rambler. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. A mental conception regarded as a standard of perfection; a model of excellence, beauty, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]
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. [ 1913 Webster ]
Beau ideal.
a. Destitute of an idea. [ 1913 Webster ]
n.
v.
n. [ Cf. F. idéalisme. ]
n. [ Cf. F. idéaliste. ]
a. Of or pertaining to idealists or their theories. [ 1913 Webster ]
n.;
n.