conceive

English

Alternative forms

• conceave (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English conceiven, from Old French concevoir, conceveir, from Latin concipiō (“to take”), from con- (“together”) + capiō (“to take”). Compare deceive, perceive, receive.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kənˈsiːv/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːv

Verb

conceive (third-person singular simple present conceives, present participle conceiving, simple past and past participle conceived)

1. (transitive) To develop an idea; to form in the mind; to plan; to devise; to originate.
   • 1606, Antony and Cleopatra, Shakespeare, II-4

     We shall, / As I conceive the journey, be at the Mount / Before you, Lepidus.

   • Gibbon

     It was among the ruins of the Capitol that I first conceived the idea of a work which has amused and exercised near twenty years of my life.

   • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 3, in The Celebrity:

     Now all this was very fine, but not at all in keeping with the Celebrity's character as I had come to conceive it. The idea that adulation ever cloyed on him was ludicrous in itself. In fact I thought the whole story fishy, and came very near to saying so.

2. (transitive) To understand (someone).
   • Nathaniel Hawthorne

     I conceive you.

   • Jonathan Swift

     You will hardly conceive him to have been bred in the same climate.

3. (intransitive or transitive) To become pregnant.

   Assisted procreation can help those trying to conceive.

   • Bible, Luke i. 36

     She hath also conceived a son in her old age.

Related terms

• conceivable
• conceiver
• concept
• conception

Translations

to develop an idea

• Albanian: mendoj (sq), krijoj (sq)
• Armenian: հղանալ (hy) (hłanal)
• Bulgarian: замислям (bg) (zamisljam)
• Catalan: concebre (ca)
• Czech: koncipovat, vymyslet (cs), formulovat
• Dutch: (een idee) krijgen
• Finnish: kehitellä (fi), suunnitella (fi)
• French: concevoir (fr)
• German: konzipieren (de), erdenken (de), ersinnen (de)
• Greek: συλλαμβάνω (el) (syllamváno), διανοούμαι (el) (dianooúmai)
• Hungarian: elképzel (hu), felfog (hu)

• Italian: concepire (it)
• Japanese: 思い付く (おもいつく, omoitsuku)
• Korean: 마음에 품다 (ma-eume pumda)
• Latin: concipio (la)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: unnfange

• Portuguese: conceber (pt)
• Russian: замышлять (ru) (zamyšljatʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian: zamisliti (sh)
• Spanish: concebir (es)
• Turkish: yaratmak (tr)

to understand someone

• Bulgarian: схващам (bg) (shvaštam), разбирам (bg) (razbiram)
• Czech: pochopit (cs), chápat (cs) impf
• Danish: forstå (da)
• Dutch: (iemand) begrijpen
• Estonian: käsitama
• Finnish: ymmärtää (fi)
• German: empfangen (de), verstehen (de)
• Greek: καταλαβαίνω (el) (katalavaíno), αντιλαμβάνομαι (el) (antilamvánomai), εννοώ (el) (ennoó)
• Hungarian: megért (hu)

• Italian: concepire (it)
• Korean: 이해하다 (ko) (ihaehada)
• Latin: teneo (la)
• Mandarin: 理解 (zh)
• Portuguese: compreender (pt)
• Russian: понима́ть (ru) (ponimátʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian: shvatiti (sh)
• Spanish: concebir (es)
• Turkish: anlamak (tr)

to become pregnant

• Arabic: حَبِلَ‏‎ (ḥabila)
• Armenian: հղիանալ (hy) (hłianal)
• Bulgarian: забременявам impf (zabremenjávam), забременея pf (zabremenéja)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 懷孕 (zh), 怀孕 (zh) (huáiyùn), 懷 (zh), 怀 (zh) (huái), 有喜 (zh) (yǒu xǐ) (euphemism and colloquial)

• Czech: počít (cs), otěhotnět (cs) pf
• Dutch: zwanger worden
• Esperanto: gravediĝi (intransitive), koncipi (transitive)
• Estonian: rasestuma
• Finnish: tulla raskaaksi
• French: concevoir (fr), tomber enceinte (fr)
• German: empfangen (de), schwanger werden
• Greek: συλλαμβάνω (el) (syllamváno), μένω έγκυος (méno égkyos)
• Hungarian: teherbe esik
• Italian: concepire (it)

• Japanese: 妊娠する (ja) (にんしんする, ninshin suru), 孕む (はらむ, haramu)
• Korean: 임신하다 (ko) (imsinhada)
• Maori: whakaira tangata, tō, tinaku
• Mwali Comorian: urenga mimba
• Ngazidja Comorian: urenga hamili
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: unnfange

• Portuguese: conceber (pt)
• Russian: бере́менеть (ru) impf (berémenetʹ), забере́менеть (ru) pf (zaberémenetʹ) (intransitive), зача́ть (ru) pf (začátʹ) (transitive) (e.g. зачать ребёнка - to conceive a child)
• Serbo-Croatian: začeti (sh)
• Slovene: zanositi
• Spanish: concebir (es)
• Tagalog: maglihi
• Turkish: gebe kalmak (tr), hamile kalmak

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• concieve