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"idea" is also used as a crossword clue. If that's what you saw, the answer is often notion (6 letters).
Definitions
Thought or suggestion
Word origin
Borrowed from Latin idea (“a (Platonic) idea; archetype”), from Ancient Greek ἰδέα (idéa, “notion, pattern”), from εἴδω (eídō, “to see”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“to know; see”). Cognate with French idée. Doublet of idée. Related to idol, idolum, and eidolon.
Used in a sentence
“The remembrance whereof (which yet I beare deepely imprinted in my minde) representing me her visage and Idea so lively and so naturally, doth in some sort reconcile me unto her.”
“The mere idea of you is enough to excite me.”
“Ideas won't go to jail.”
Source: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0
Used as a crossword answer9 curated clues
01“Mental concept”4 letters
02“Mental spark”4 letters
03“Spark of thought”4 letters
04“Thought for a plan”4 letters
05“Thought for a solution”4 letters
06“Thought or plan”4 letters
07“Thought worth trying”4 letters
08“Thought or suggestion”4 letters
09“Thought”4 letters
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