conceit

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Contents

English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

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[edit]

Translations[edit]

Verb[edit]

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[edit]