conception
English
Etymology
From Middle English concepcioun, borrowed from Old French conception, from Latin conceptiō (“a comprehending, a collection, composition, an expression, also a becoming pregnant”), from concipiō, past participle conceptus (“conceive”); see conceive.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /kənˈsɛpʃən/
Audio (US) (file)
Noun
conception (countable and uncountable, plural conceptions)
- The act of conceiving.
- The state of being conceived; the beginning.
- The fertilization of an ovum by a sperm to form a zygote.
- c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], part 1, 2nd edition, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, OCLC 932920499; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene vi:
- Some powers diuine, or els infernall, mixt
Their angry ſeedes at his conception:
For he was neuer ſprong of humaine race,
Since with the ſpirit of his fearefull pride,
He dares so doubtleſly reſolue of rule.
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- The start of pregnancy.
- The formation of a conceptus or an implanted embryo.
- The power or faculty of apprehending of forming an idea in the mind; the power of recalling a past sensation or perception; the ability to form mental abstractions.
- An image, idea, or notion formed in the mind; a concept, plan or design.
- 1962 October, Brian Haresnape, “Focus on B.R. passenger stations”, in Modern Railways, pages 250-251:
- Elegant brick and stone buildings, with iron and glass canopies and decorative wooden scalloping and fencing—all evidencing care on the part of the architect to produce a pleasing, well-planned building—were submerged beneath a profusion of ill-conceived additions and camouflaged by vulgar paint schemes; and the original conception was lost.
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Antonyms
- misconception
Coordinate terms
- inception
Derived terms
- artist's conception
- control of conception
- false conception
- non-conception
- post conception
- post-conception
- products of conception
- self-conception
Related terms
- conceive
- concept
Translations
initiation of an embryonic animal life
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the power or faculty of apprehending of forming an idea in the mind
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an image, idea, or notion formed in the mind — See also translations at concept
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See also
- contraception
References
- conception in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
- conception in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
Anagrams
- nonectopic
French
Etymology
From Old French conception, concepcion, borrowed from Latin conceptio, conceptionem (“comprehension, understanding”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /kɔ̃.sɛp.sjɔ̃/
Audio (file)
Noun
conception f (plural conceptions)
- conception (of a child)
- conception (beginning, start)
- ability to understand
- viewpoint; angle
- concept, idea
Derived terms
- Immaculée Conception
Related terms
- concept
- concevoir
Further reading
- “conception”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Old French
Alternative forms
- concepcion
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin conceptio, conceptionem (“comprehension, understanding”).
Noun
conception f (oblique plural conceptions, nominative singular conception, nominative plural conceptions)
- conception (of a child)
- 1377, Bernard de Gordon, Fleur de lis de medecine (a.k.a. lilium medicine):
- Et sont retenus naturellement comme en concepcion
- And they [menses] are naturally retained in the case of conception
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Descendants
- → Middle English: concepcioun, concepcion, concepciun, concepcyon, consepcioun
- English: conception
- French: conception