idea : Idioms & Phrases

(Metaph.), an idea separated from a complex object, or from other ideas which naturally accompany it; as the solidity of marble when contemplated apart from its color or figure.

(Physiol.), the combination or connection of states of mind or their objects with one another, as the result of which one is said to be revived or represented by means of the other. The relations according to which they are thus connected or revived are called the law of association. Prominent among them are reckoned the relations of time and place, and of cause and effect.

(Metaph.), ideas, as of God, immortality, right and wrong, supposed by some to be inherent in the mind, as a priori principles of knowledge.

noun an opinion formed beforehand without adequate evidence
preconceived notion; prepossession; preconceived opinion; preconception; parti pris.
- he did not even try to confirm his preconceptions