conceive

English

Alternative forms

• conceave (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English conceiven, borrowed from Old French concevoir, conceveir, from Latin concipiō, concipere (“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.

   • (Can we date this quote by Gibbon and provide title, author's full name, and other details?)

     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).
   • (Can we date this quote by Nathaniel Hawthorne and provide title, author's full name, and other details?)

     I conceive you.

   • (Can we date this quote by Jonathan Swift and provide title, author's full name, and other details?)

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

4. (intransitive or transitive) To become pregnant (with).

   Assisted procreation can help those trying to conceive.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), imprinted at London: By Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Luke 1:36:

     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: krijgen (nl)
• Finnish: kehitellä (fi), suunnitella (fi)
• French: concevoir (fr)
• Galician: argallar (gl)
• German: konzipieren (de), erdenken (de), ersinnen (de)
• Greek: συλλαμβάνω (el) (syllamváno), διανοούμαι (el) (dianooúmai)
• Hungarian: elképzel (hu), felfog (hu)

• Italian: concepire (it), sviluppare (it), ideare (it)
• Japanese: 思い付く (ja) (おもいつく, omoitsuku)
• Korean: 마음에 품다 (ma-eume pumda)
• Latin: concipiō (la), imaginor
• 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: begrijpen (nl)
• 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: забременя́вам impf (zabremenjávam), забремене́я 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
• Egyptian: (jwr)
• 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)
• 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