Visualisation

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The act of creating a mental picture or image in the mind ; the process of producing visual graphics or diagrams to represent data or concepts
2. Forming a clear and detailed image in one's imagination ; the technique of making visual displays to illustrate information or ideas
3. The practice of imagining scenes or objects mentally ; the generation of visual models to help explain or analyze information

Etymology: "Visualisation" is a plain formation: the verb "visualise" with the noun-forming ending "-ation" added to it. The verb itself was built from "visual" (from Late Latin "visualis", relating to sight), which in turn comes from Latin "visus", meaning "sight". The ending traces back through Old French "-acion" and Latin "-ātiō", a suffix used to turn verbs into nouns of action or result, so the whole word means the act or result of forming a mental picture. The core parts are therefore easy to separate: "visual" supplies the idea of sight, "-ise" turns it into a verb meaning to make something visible to the mind or eye, and "-ation" names the process. The word belongs to a family of modern coinages in English in which Latin-derived suffixes were attached to existing roots to name new processes, such as "organisation" from "organise".

Synonyms: representation, illustration, depiction, portrayal, imagery

Antonyms: obscurity, invisibility, confusion, ambiguity, complexity