In English, there’s the image of something physical or that which is formed in the mind (a mental image using the imagination), and there’s the psychological image that a person perceives of him/herself and projects to the world, as well as other definitions.


The Hebrew word for a psychological image or that image which is projected to the world, is תַּדְמִית (tahd-MEET).

Two examples will illustrate:


יֵשׁ לוֹ תַּדְמִית עַצְמִית חִיּוּבִית
he has a positive self image
(yesh loh tahd-MEET ahts-MEET khee-yoo-VEET)


הִיא מְשַׁדֶּרֶת לָעוֹלָם תַּדְמִית מִקְצוֹעִית
she projects (broadcasts) to the world a professional image
(hee meh-shah-DEH-ret lah-oh-LAHM tahd-MEET meek-tsoh-EET)


The root of תדמית is ד.מ.ה (d.m.h), meaning image or likeness. It’s of the same verb-to-noun pattern as the words תַּבְנִית (tahv-NEET) and תַּפְנִית (tahf-NEET) meaning pattern and turnabout, respectively. The root of תבנית is ב.נ.ה (b.n.h), while the root of תפנית is פ.נ.ה (p.n.h). Note that the final root letter of all three words in the verb-to-noun pattern – תדמית, תבנית, תפנית – is ה (h).

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