Definition of "ideal" []

• A conception of something in its absolute perfection. (noun)
• One that is regarded as a standard or model of perfection or excellence. (noun)
• An ultimate object of endeavor; a goal. (noun)
• An honorable or worthy principle or aim. (noun)
• Of, relating to, or embodying an ideal. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Jehovah's dealing with his people, the mourning for her presence being the completest expression of grief, we can come to understand something of the Jewish ideal of marriage and of the high honor, _because of this ideal_, in which women were held."
• "_obedience_ is the only evidence of the ideal rule; for in respect to the conduct of the material world, the _ideal_ and the _actual_ are the same."
• "Indeed, ideal observer analyses that go too far in this direction seem to become circular ” the ˜ideal™ observer is ideal because she always makes proper judgments, those being defined as just those judgments the ideal observer would make (Broad 1959, p. 263)."