conceive
VerbOpen English WordNet
Verb (3)conceived, conceiving
- have the idea for“He conceived of a robot that would help paralyzed patients”“This library was well conceived”Synonyms: gestateconceptualizeconceptualiseMore general create by mental act, create mentallyMore specific discover, design, preconceive
- 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”Synonyms: thinkbelieveconsiderMore general evaluate, pass judgmentMore specific see, think of, feel, rethink, hold, think
- become pregnant; undergo conception“She cannot conceive”“My daughter was conceived on Christmas Day”More general change state, turnMore specific superfetateInvolves copulate, mate
What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Origin: 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.
She hath also conceived a son in her old age.— Luke i. 36.
2. To form in the mind; to plan; to devise; to generate; to originate; as, to conceive a purpose, plan, hope.
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.— Edward Gibbon
Conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.— Is. lix. 13.
3. To apprehend by reason or imagination; to take into the mind; to know; to imagine; to comprehend; to understand. “I conceive you.” Nathaniel Hawthorne
O horror, horror, horror! Tongue nor heart Cannot conceive nor name thee!— William Shakespeare
You will hardly conceive him to have been bred in the same climate.— Jonathan Swift
Synonyms: To apprehend; imagine; suppose; understand; comprehend; believe; think.
1. To have an embryo or fetus formed in the womb; to breed; to become pregnant.
A virgin shall conceive, and bear a son.— Isa. vii. 14.
2. To have a conception, idea, or opinion; think; — with of.
Conceive of things clearly and distinctly in their own natures.— Isaac Watts
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54