Wiktionary

conception

English

edit

Etymology

edit
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *ḱe?
Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm
Proto-Italic *kom
Proto-Italic *kom-
Latin con-
Proto-Indo-European *kap-
Proto-Indo-European *-yéti
Proto-Indo-European *kapyéti
Proto-Italic *kapjō
Old Latin kapiō
Latin capiō
▲
Ancient Greek σῠλλᾰμβᾰ́νω (sŭllămbắnō)calq.
Latin concipiō
Proto-Indo-European *-tis
Proto-Indo-European *-Hō
Proto-Indo-European *-tiHō
Proto-Italic *-tiō
Latin -tiō
Latin conceptiōlbor.
Old French conceptionbor.
Middle English concepcioun
English conception

    From Middle English concepcioun, borrowed from Old French conception, from Latin conceptiō (“a comprehending, a collection, composition, an expression, also a becoming pregnant”), from concipiō, past participle conceptus (“conceive”); see conceive. Equivalent to conceive +‎ -tion.

    Pronunciation

    edit

    Noun

    edit

    conception (countable and uncountable, plural conceptions)

    2. The act of conceiving.
    4. The state of being conceived; the beginning.
    6. The fertilization of an ovum by a sperm to form a zygote.
      • c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene vi:
        Some powers diuine, or els infernall, mixt
        Their angry ſeedes at his conception:
        For he was neuer ſprong of humaine race,
        Since with the ſpirit of his fearefull pride,
        He dares so doubtleſly reſolue of rule.
    8. The start of pregnancy.
    10. The formation of a conceptus or an implanted embryo.
    12. The power or faculty of apprehending of forming an idea in the mind; the power of recalling a past sensation or perception; the ability to form mental abstractions.
      • c. 1921 (date written), Karel Čapek, translated by Paul Selver, R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots): A Fantastic Melodrama […], Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1923, →OCLC, Act 1:
        What the school books say about the united efforts of the two great Rossums is all a fairy tale. They used to have dreadful rows. The old atheist hadn't the slightest conception of industrial matters, and the end of it was that young Rossum shut him up in some laboratory or other and let him fritter the time away with his monstrosities, while he himself started on the business from an engineer's point of view.
    14. An image, idea, or notion formed in the mind; a concept, plan or design.
      • 1962 October, Brian Haresnape, “Focus on B.R. passenger stations”, in Modern Railways, pages 250–251:
        Elegant brick and stone buildings, with iron and glass canopies and decorative wooden scalloping and fencing—all evidencing care on the part of the architect to produce a pleasing, well-planned building—were submerged beneath a profusion of ill-conceived additions and camouflaged by vulgar paint schemes; and the original conception was lost.
    15. Something conceived or designed.
      • 1923, Ernest Bramah, The Eyes of Max Carrados:
        The figure was placed on a low pedestal, sufficiently raised from the carpet on four plain wooden legs for all the space underneath to be clearly visible. The body was a squat, cross-legged conception, typical of an Indian deity […]

    Antonyms

    edit

    Coordinate terms

    edit

    Derived terms

    edit
    edit

    Translations

    edit

    See also

    edit

    References

    edit

    Anagrams

    edit

    French

    edit

    Etymology

    edit

    Inherited from Old French conception, concepcion, borrowed from Latin conceptiōnem (“comprehension, understanding”).

    Pronunciation

    edit

    Noun

    edit

    conception f (plural conceptions)

    1. conception (of a child)
    2. conception (beginning, start)
    3. ability to understand
    4. viewpoint; angle
    5. concept, idea

    Derived terms

    edit
    edit

    Descendants

    edit
    • → Dutch: conceptie
    • → Romanian: concepție

    Further reading

    edit

    Old French

    edit

    Alternative forms

    edit

    Etymology

    edit

      Borrowed from Latin conceptio, conceptionem (“comprehension, understanding”).

      Noun

      edit

      conception oblique singular, f (oblique plural conceptions, nominative singular conception, nominative plural conceptions)

      1. conception (of a child)
        • 1377, Bernard de Gordon, Fleur de lis de medecine (a.k.a. lilium medicine):
          Et sont retenus naturellement comme en concepcion
          And they [menses] are naturally retained in the case of conception

      Descendants

      edit
      Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=conception&oldid=90793501"