conceit

English

Etymology

Apparently formed from conceive, by analogy with deceive/deceit, receive/receipt etc.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -iːt

Noun

conceit (countable and uncountable; plural conceits)

1. (obsolete) Something conceived in the mind; an idea, a thought. [14th-18th c.]
2. (obsolete) Opinion, (neutral) judgment. [14th-18th c.]
3. (now rare, dialectal) Esteem, favourable opinion. [from 15th c.]
   • 1499, John Skelton, The Bowge of Courte:

     By him that me boughte, than quod Dysdayne, / I wonder sore he is in suche cenceyte.

4. (countable) A novel or fanciful idea; a whim. [from 16th c.]
5. (countable, rhetoric, literature) An ingenious expression or metaphorical idea, especially in extended form or used as a literary or rhetorical device. [from 16th c.]
6. (uncountable) Overly high self-esteem; vain pride; hubris. [from 17th c.]

Derived terms

• conceited
• conceitedly
• conceitedness

Translations

overly high self-esteem

• Armenian: ինքնահավանություն (hy) (ink'nahavanut'yun)
• Bulgarian: самонадеяност (bg) (samonadéjanost) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 自負 (cmn), 自负 (cmn) (zìfù)

• Czech: namyšlenost (cs) f, nafoukanost (cs) f
• Dutch: verwaandheid (nl),ijdelheid (nl),hoogmoed (nl)
• Finnish: omahyväisyys (fi), itserakkaus (fi)
• French: vanité (fr) f,orgueil (fr) m
• German: Einbildung (de) f
• Greek:

  Ancient: φύσημα n

• Hebrew: התנפחות (he) (hitnapkhût)

• Hungarian: beképzeltség (hu)
• Italian: presunzione f, (vain pride) vanità f
• Japanese: うぬぼれ (ja) (unubore)
• Latvian: iedomība (lv) f, uzpūtība (lv) f, uzpūtīgums (lv) m
• Portuguese: presunção (pt) f, vaidade (pt) f
• Romanian: trufie (ro) f, vanitate (ro) f
• Russian: самомнение (ru) (samomnénije) n, тщеславие (ru) (tščeslávije) n, (vain pride) гонор (ru) (gónor) m, чванство (ru) (čvánstvo) n, самонадеянность (ru) (samonadéjannostʹ) f
• Serbo-Croatian: umišljenost (sh)
• Spanish: engreimiento m, vanidad f
• Swedish: fåfänga (sv)

idea, literary device

• Hungarian: elképzelés (hu)
• Italian: concetto m

• Serbo-Croatian: koncept (sh)

Verb

conceit (third-person singular simple present conceits, present participle conceiting, simple past and past participle conceited)

1. (obsolete) To form an idea; to think.
   • (Can we date this quote?), Milton

     Those whose […] vulgar apprehensions conceit but low of matrimonial purposes.

2. (obsolete, transitive) To conceive.
   • South

     The strong, by conceiting themselves weak, are therebly rendered as inactive […] as if they really were so.

   • Shakespeare

     One of two bad ways you must conceit me, / Either a coward or a flatterer.

External links

• conceit in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• conceit in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• conceit at OneLook Dictionary Search