Seminar paper from the year 2003 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade 2,7, University of Frankfurt Main, course Englische Prosa des 17. Jahrhunderts Robert Burton und Sir Thomas Browne, language English, abstract The word 'imagination' has and had various meanings as this extract from The Oxford English Dictionary illustrates 1. The action of imagining, or forming a mental concept of what is not actually present to the senses ... the result of this process, a mental image or idea often with implication that the conception does not correspond to the reality of things, hence freq. vain false, etc. imagination ... 2. The mental consideration of actions or events not yet in existence a. Scheming or devising a device, contrivance, plan, scheme, plot, a fancyful project ... b. Impression as to what is likely expectation, anticipation. ... These are the definitions that existed in the Renaissance period. But as I am going to show in my essay with the exam