conceive

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con·ceive

(kən-sēv′)

v. con·ceived, con·ceiv·ing, con·ceives

v.tr.

1. To become pregnant with (offspring): She conceived her first child in London, but her second child was conceived in Paris.

2. To form or develop in the mind: conceive a plan to increase profits; conceive a passion for a new acquaintance.

3. To apprehend mentally; understand: couldn't conceive the meaning of that sentence.

4. To be of the opinion that; think: didn't conceive that such a tragedy could occur.

5. To begin or originate in a specific way: a political movement that was conceived in the ferment of the 1960s.

v.intr.

1. To form or hold an idea: Ancient peoples conceived of the earth as flat.

2. To become pregnant.

[Middle English conceiven, from Old French concevoir, conceiv-, from Latin concipere : com-, intensive pref.; see com- + capere, to take; see kap- in Indo-European roots.]

con·ceiv′a·bil′i·ty, con·ceiv′a·ble·ness n.

con·ceiv′a·ble adj.

con·ceiv′a·bly adv.

con·ceiv′er n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

conceive

(kənˈsiːv)

1. (when: intr, foll by of; when tr, often takes a clause as object) to have an idea (of); imagine; think

2. (tr; takes a clause as object or an infinitive) to hold as an opinion; believe

3. (tr) to develop or form, esp in the mind: she conceived a passion for music.

4. (Physiology) to become pregnant with (young)

5. (tr) rare to express in words

[C13: from Old French conceivre, from Latin concipere to take in, from capere to take]

conˈceiver n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

con•ceive

(kənˈsiv)

v. -ceived, -ceiv•ing. v.t.

1. to form (a notion, opinion, purpose, etc.): He conceived the project while on vacation.

2. to form a notion or idea of; imagine: Would you ever have conceived such behavior in public?

3. to hold as an opinion; think; believe: I can't conceive that it would be of any use.

4. to experience or form (a feeling): to conceive a great love for music.

5. to become pregnant with.

6. to begin, originate, or found (something) in a particular way (usu. used in the passive): a new nation conceived in liberty.

7. Archaic. to understand; comprehend.

v.i.

8. to form an idea; think (usu. fol. by of).

9. to become pregnant.

[1250–1300; Middle English < Anglo-French, Old French conceivre < Latin concipere to take fully, take in =con- con- + -cipere, comb. form of capere to take]

con•ceiv′er, n.

conceive

Past participle: conceived
Gerund: conceiving

Imperative
conceive
conceive

Present
I conceive
you conceive
he/she/it conceives
we conceive
you conceive
they conceive

Preterite
I conceived
you conceived
he/she/it conceived
we conceived
you conceived
they conceived

Present Continuous
I am conceiving
you are conceiving
he/she/it is conceiving
we are conceiving
you are conceiving
they are conceiving

Present Perfect
I have conceived
you have conceived
he/she/it has conceived
we have conceived
you have conceived
they have conceived

Past Continuous
I was conceiving
you were conceiving
he/she/it was conceiving
we were conceiving
you were conceiving
they were conceiving

Past Perfect
I had conceived
you had conceived
he/she/it had conceived
we had conceived
you had conceived
they had conceived

Future
I will conceive
you will conceive
he/she/it will conceive
we will conceive
you will conceive
they will conceive

Future Perfect
I will have conceived
you will have conceived
he/she/it will have conceived
we will have conceived
you will have conceived
they will have conceived

Future Continuous
I will be conceiving
you will be conceiving
he/she/it will be conceiving
we will be conceiving
you will be conceiving
they will be conceiving

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been conceiving
you have been conceiving
he/she/it has been conceiving
we have been conceiving
you have been conceiving
they have been conceiving

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been conceiving
you will have been conceiving
he/she/it will have been conceiving
we will have been conceiving
you will have been conceiving
they will have been conceiving

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been conceiving
you had been conceiving
he/she/it had been conceiving
we had been conceiving
you had been conceiving
they had been conceiving

Conditional
I would conceive
you would conceive
he/she/it would conceive
we would conceive
you would conceive
they would conceive

Past Conditional
I would have conceived
you would have conceived
he/she/it would have conceived
we would have conceived
you would have conceived
they would have conceived

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Verb	1.	conceive - have the idea for; "He conceived of a robot that would help paralyzed patients"; "This library was well conceived" conceptualise, conceptualize, gestate create by mental act, create mentally - create mentally and abstractly rather than with one's hands design - conceive or fashion in the mind; invent; "She designed a good excuse for not attending classes that day" preconceive - conceive beforehand; "a preconceived notion" discover, find - make a discovery, make a new finding; "Roentgen discovered X-rays"; "Physicists believe they found a new elementary particle"
	2.	conceive - judge or regard; look upon; judge; "I think he is very smart"; "I believe her to be very smart"; "I think that he is her boyfriend"; "The racist conceives such people to be inferior" think, believe, consider hold - remain committed to; "I hold to these ideas" pass judgment, evaluate, judge - form a critical opinion of; "I cannot judge some works of modern art"; "How do you evaluate this grant proposal?" "We shouldn't pass judgment on other people" rethink - change one's mind; "He rethought his decision to take a vacation" think - dispose the mind in a certain way; "Do you really think so?" look upon, regard as, repute, take to be, esteem, look on, think of - look on as or consider; "she looked on this affair as a joke"; "He thinks of himself as a brilliant musician"; "He is reputed to be intelligent" feel - have a feeling or perception about oneself in reaction to someone's behavior or attitude; "She felt small and insignificant"; "You make me feel naked"; "I made the students feel different about themselves" consider, regard, view, reckon, see - deem to be; "She views this quite differently from me"; "I consider her to be shallow"; "I don't see the situation quite as negatively as you do"
	3.	conceive - become pregnant; undergo conception; "She cannot conceive"; "My daughter was conceived in Christmas Day" superfetate - conceive when a fetus is already present in the uterus change state, turn - undergo a transformation or a change of position or action; "We turned from Socialism to Capitalism"; "The people turned against the President when he stole the election"

conceive

verb

1. imagine, envisage, comprehend, visualize, think, believe, suppose, fancy, appreciate, grasp, apprehend We now cannot conceive of a world without electricity.

2. think up, form, produce, create, develop, design, project, purpose, devise, formulate, contrive I began to conceive a plan of attack.

3. become pregnant, get pregnant, become impregnated Women should give up alcohol before they plan to conceive.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

conceive

verb

1. To form mental images of:

envisage, envision, fancy, fantasize, image, imagine, picture, see, think, vision, visualize.

Informal: feature.

2. To form a strategy for:

blueprint, cast, chart, contrive, design, devise, formulate, frame, lay, plan, project, scheme, strategize, work out.

Informal: dope out.

Idiom: lay plans.

3. To perceive and recognize the meaning of:

accept, apprehend, catch (on), compass, comprehend, fathom, follow, get, grasp, make out, read, see, sense, take, take in, understand.

Informal: savvy.

Slang: dig.

Chiefly British: twig.

Scots: ken.

Idioms: get a handle on, get the picture.

Translations

تَحْبَلُ ، تحمليَتَخَيَّل، يَتَصَوَّريُكَوِّنُ فِكْرَةً في عَقْلِهِ

otěhotnětpochopitpočítpojmout

blive gravidfattefinde påforestille sigudtænke

begreifen empfangen erfassen ersinnen

συλλαμβάνω

concebir entender

käsitamarasestuma

concevoir deviner imaginer comprendre

hugsa uppímynda sérverîa barnshafandi

concepire ideare immaginabile

galbūtgalimas daiktasįsivaizduojamasįsivaizduotipastoti

aptvertiecerētiedomātieskļūt grūtainodomāt

bli gravid finne på forestille seg tenke ut unnfange

conceber

беременеть понимать

otehotnieť

aklı almakdüşünmekhamile/gebe kalmakkurmaktasarlamak

怀孕想象构想出

conceive

[kənˈsiːv]

A. VT

1. [+ child] → concebir

2. (= imagine) → concebir
to conceive a dislike for sth/sb → cobrar antipatía a algo/algn

B. VI

1. (= become pregnant) → concebir

2. (= think) to conceive of sth → imaginar algo
to conceive of doing sth → imaginarse haciendo algo
I cannot conceive of anything worse → no me puedo imaginar nada peor
I cannot conceive why → no entiendo porqué

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

conceive

[kənˈsiːv]

(= become pregnant with) [+ baby, boy, girl] → concevoir
to be conceived [baby] → être conçu(e)

(= develop) [+ policy] → concevoir

(= become pregnant) → concevoir

(= imagine) to conceive of sth → concevoir qch, imaginer qch
to conceive of doing sth → concevoir de faire qch, imaginer de faire qch

conceive

child → empfangen

(= imagine) → sich (dat) → denken or vorstellen; idea, plan → haben; novel → die Idee haben zu; it was originally conceived as quite a different sort of book → ursprünglich war das Buch ganz anders geplant or konzipiert (geh); the idea was conceived in a Paris café → die Idee (dazu) wurde in einem Pariser Café geboren; the way he conceives his role → seine Vorstellung or Auffassung von seiner Rolle; she conceives it to be her duty → sie erachtet (geh) → or betrachtet es als ihre Pflicht; I can’t conceive why → ich verstehe or begreife nicht, warum

to conceive a dislike for somebody/something → eine Abneigung gegen jdn/etw entwickeln; to conceive a passion for somebody/something → seine Leidenschaft für jdn/etw entdecken

vi (woman) → empfangen

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

conceive

[kənˈsiːv]

1. vt (child, idea) → concepire

2. vi to conceive of sth/of doing sth → immaginare qc/di fare qc

conceive

(kənˈsiːv) verb

1. to form (an idea etc) in the mind.

2. to imagine. I can't conceive why you did that.

3. (of a woman) to become pregnant.

conˈceivable adjective

able to be imagined or thought of.

conˈceivably adverb

conceive is spelt with -ei-.

con·ceive

vt. concebir.

conceive

vi concebir

References in classic literature ?

Or...he could not conceive what would become of him if he were rejected.

View in context

And as I observed that in the words I think, therefore I am, there is nothing at all which gives me assurance of their truth beyond this, that I see very clearly that in order to think it is necessary to exist, I concluded that I might take, as a general rule, the principle, that all the things which we very clearly and distinctly conceive are true, only observing, however, that there is some difficulty in rightly determining the objects which we distinctly conceive.

For, in the first place even the principle which I have already taken as a rule, viz., that all the things which we clearly and distinctly conceive are true, is certain only because God is or exists and because he is a Perfect Being, and because all that we possess is derived from him: whence it follows that our ideas or notions, which to the extent of their clearness and distinctness are real, and proceed from God, must to that extent be true.

View in context

None but those who have experienced them can conceive of the enticements of science.

No one can conceive the variety of feelings which bore me onwards, like a hurricane, in the first enthusiasm of success.

View in context

I must own that I could not give a negative answer to this question, without first obliterating every impression which I have received with regard to the present genius of the people of America, the spirit which actuates the State legislatures, and the principles which are incorporated with the political character of every class of citizens I am unable to conceive that the people of America, in their present temper, or under any circumstances which can speedily happen, will choose, and every second year repeat the choice of, sixty-five or a hundred men who would be disposed to form and pursue a scheme of tyranny or treachery.

View in context

Chairman," said an Aged Member, rising, "I conceive that the objection is not well taken; the gentleman's connection with commerce is close and intimate.

View in context

He could not conceive their maniacal desires to cross the streets.

View in context

My gentleness and good behaviour had gained so far on the emperor and his court, and indeed upon the army and people in general, that I began to conceive hopes of getting my liberty in a short time.

By which the reader may conceive an idea of the ingenuity of that people, as well as the prudent and exact economy of so great a prince.

View in context

I am trying to conceive what were the thoughts of the young husband on the other side of the street.

View in context

And when they are filling in the work, as I conceive, they will often turn their eyes upwards and downwards: I mean that they will first look at absolute justice and beauty and temperance, and again at the human copy; and will mingle and temper the various elements of life into the image of a man; and thus they will conceive according to that other image, which, when existing among men, Homer calls the form and likeness of God.