Verb

(en verb)

To find out definitely; to discover or establish.

* {{quote-book, year=1905, author=

, title= , chapter=1 citation , passage=“There the cause of death was soon ascertained ?; the victim of this daring outrage had been stabbed to death from ear to ear with a long, sharp instrument, in shape like an antique stiletto, which […] was subsequently found under the cushions of the hansom. […]”}}

As soon as we ascertain what the situation is, we can plan how to proceed.

Verb

To form a mental image of something; to envision or create something in one's mind.

* Shakespeare

In the night, imagining some fear, / How easy is a bush supposed a bear!

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-14, author=(Jonathan Freedland)

, volume=189, issue=1, page=18, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Obama's once hip brand is now tainted , passage=Now we are liberal with our innermost secrets, spraying them into the public ether with a generosity our forebears could not have imagined . Where we once sent love letters in a sealed envelope, or stuck photographs of our children in a family album, now such private material is despatched to servers and clouds operated by people we don't know and will never meet.}}

To believe in something created by one's own mind.

To assume.

To conjecture or guess.

To use one's imagination.

(obsolete) To contrive in purpose; to scheme; to devise.

* Bible, Psalms lxii. 3

How long will ye imagine mischief against a man?