ETYM Old Eng. imagerie, French imagerie.
1. Images in general, or in mass.
2. Figurative meaning: Unreal show; imitation; appearance.
3. The work of the imagination or fancy; false ideas; imaginary phantasms.
4. Rhetorical decoration in writing or speaking; vivid descriptions presenting or suggesting images of sensible objects; figures in discourse.
The use of metaphor, simile, and other figures of speech that create sensual comparisons; the use of symbols and descriptive language. The aim is to clarify or explain, to enable the reader to see in a different light or from a different angle.