idée mère
UK/iːdeɪ ˈmɛː/US/i.deɪ ˈmɛ(ə)ɹ/
idée mère noun: a fundamental idea or guiding principle, seen as giving rise to something.
Noun
idée mère (plural idées mères)
- A fundamental idea or guiding principle, seen as giving rise to something.
- The idée mère, the primitive element, in the formation of the notion of justice, was conformity to law.1863, John Stewart Mill, Utilitarianism, section V
- M. Malot pursues this physiological development of his idée-mere with a good deal of skill, and it is, we think, the most interesting feature of his book.1868 September 26, The Saturday Review
- Synonyms:
- mother idea
Synonyms of idée mère
- mother idea
Forms of idée mère
| plural | idées mères |
|---|
Origin of idée mère
From French idée mère.
Questions about idée mère
- What does idée mère mean?
- Idée mère means a fundamental idea or guiding principle, seen as giving rise to something.
- What part of speech is idée mère?
- Idée mère is a noun.
- How do you pronounce idée mère?
- Idée mère is pronounced /iːdeɪ ˈmɛː/ (UK).
- What is the plural of idée mère?
- The plural of idée mère is idées mères.
Words near idée mère in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: idée mère (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “idée mère.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/id%C3%A9e_m%C3%A8re. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.