- Conceive
- Conceive Con*ceive", v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Conceived}; p. pr. &
vb. n. {Conceiving}.] [OF. conzoivre, concever, conceveir, F.
concevoir, fr. L. oncipere to take, to conceive; con- +
capere to seize or take. See {Capable}, and cf.
{Conception}.]
1. To receive into the womb and begin to breed; to begin the
formation of the embryo of.
[1913 Webster]
She hath also conceived a son in her old age. --Luke i. 36. [1913 Webster]
2. To form in the mind; to plan; to devise; to generate; to originate; as, to conceive a purpose, plan, hope. [1913 Webster]
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. --Gibbon. [1913 Webster]
Conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. --Is. lix. 13. [1913 Webster]
3. To apprehend by reason or imagination; to take into the mind; to know; to imagine; to comprehend; to understand. ``I conceive you.'' --Hawthorne. [1913 Webster]
O horror, horror, horror! Tongue nor heart Cannot conceive nor name thee! --Shak. [1913 Webster]
You will hardly conceive him to have been bred in the same climate. --Swift.
Syn: To apprehend; imagine; suppose; understand; comprehend; believe; think. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.