Conceive

• POS: Verb (usu participle), Verb (transitive)
• HYPHEN: con=ceive

CIDE DICTIONARY

Conceive, v. t. [OF. conzoivre, concever, conceveir, F. concevoir, fr. L. oncipere to take, to conceive; con- + capere to seize or take. See Capable, and cf. Conception.].

•  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."  [1913 Webster]
•  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."  [1913 Webster]

  "Conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood."  [1913 Webster]
•  To apprehend by reason or imagination; to take into the mind; to know; to imagine; to comprehend; to understand.  Hawthorne.  [1913 Webster]

  "O horror, horror, horror! Tongue nor heart
  Cannot conceive nor name thee!"  [1913 Webster]

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

Syn. -- To apprehend; imagine; suppose; understand; comprehend; believe; think.

Conceive, v. i. 

•  To have an embryo or fetus formed in the womb; to breed; to become pregnant.  [1913 Webster]

  "A virgin shall conceive, and bear a son."  [1913 Webster]
•  To have a conception, idea, or opinion; think; -- with of.  [1913 Webster]

  "Conceive of things clearly and distinctly in their own natures."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Conceive, v.
1 intr. become pregnant.
2 tr. become pregnant with (a child).
3 tr. (often foll. by that + clause) a imagine, fancy, think (can't conceive that he could be guilty). b (usu. in passive) formulate, express (a belief, a plan, etc.).

Idiom

conceive of form in the mind; imagine.

Etymology

ME f. OF conceiv- stressed stem of concevoir f. L concipere concept- (as com-, capere take)

THESAURUS

Conceive

absorb, accept, account as, animate, appreciate, apprehend, assimilate, assume, author, be acquainted with, be afraid, be apprised of, be aware of, be cognizant of, be conscious of, be conversant with, be informed, be with one, bear, beget, believe, breathe life into, breed, bring about, bring forth, bring into being, bring into existence, bring to effect, bring to life, bring to pass, call into being, call into existence, catch, catch on, cause, cerebrate, cogitate, cognize, coin, come with child, compass, comprehend, conceit, conceptualize, conclude, concoct, conjure up, consider, contrive, cook up, couch, couch in terms, create, daresay, deduce, deem, design, develop, devise, dig, digest, discern, discover, divine, do, dream, dream up, effect, effectuate, embody in words, endow with life, energize, engender, entertain ideas, envisage, envision, establish, esteem, estimate, evolve, excogitate, exercise the mind, expect, experience imaginatively, express, fabricate, fancy, fantasize, father, fathom, feature, feel, fictionalize, follow, form, form ideas, formularize, formulate, found, frame, gather, generate, gestate, get, get hold of, get the drift, get the idea, get the picture, give being to, give birth, give birth to, give expression to, give life to, give occasion to, give origin to, give rise to, give words to, grant, grasp, guess, hatch, have, have a hunch, have an idea, have an impression, have an inkling, have information about, have it taped, have knowledge of, have the idea, heed, hold, hold as, hypothesize, ideate, image, imagine, improvise, inaugurate, infer, inspirit, institute, intellectualize, invent, judge, ken, know, learn, let, let be, look upon as, maintain, make, make do with, make out, make up, mark, master, mature, meditate, mint, mold, note, notice, observe, occasion, opine, originate, paragraph, perceive, phrase, plan, plot, ponder, posit, possess, postulate, prefigure, prehend, present, presume, presuppose, presurmise, procreate, produce, provisionally accept, put, put in words, quicken, read, realize, reason, reckon, recognize, regard, remark, repute, rhetorize, ruminate, savvy, say, see, seize, seize the meaning, sense, set afloat, set down as, set on foot, set out, set up, shape, sire, spawn, speculate, state, strike out, style, suggest, superfetate, suppose, surmise, suspect, take, take for, take for granted, take in, take it, take to be, think, think out, think up, trow, twig, understand, view as, vision, visualize, vitalize, vivify, ween, word, work, wot, wot of

ROGET THESAURUS

Conceive

Beginning

VB begin, start, commence, conceive, open, dawn, set in, take its rise, enter upon, enter, set out, embark in, incept, initiate, launch, inaugurate, inchoate, rise, arise, originate, usher in, lead off, lead the way, take the lead, take the initiative, head, stand at the head, stand first, stand for, lay the foundations, found, set up, set on foot, agoing, set abroach, set the ball in motion, apply the match to a train, broach, open up, open the door to, get underway, set about, get to work, set to work, set to, make a beginning, make a start, handsel, take the first step, lay the first stone, cut the first turf, break ground, break the ice, break cover, pass the Rubicon, cross the Rubicon, open fire, open the ball, ventilate, air, undertake, come into existence, come into the world, make one's debut, take birth, burst forth, break out, spring up, spring forth, crop up, pop up, appear, materialize, begin at the beginning, begin ab ovo, begin again, begin de novo, start afresh, make a fresh start, take it from the top, shuffle the cards, reshuffle the cards, resume, recommence.

Productiveness

VB make productive, fructify, procreate, generate, fertilize, spermative, impregnate, fecundate, fecundify, teem, multiply, produce, conceive.

Belief

VB believe, credit, give faith to, give credit to, credence to, see, realize, assume, receive, set down for, take for, have it, take it, consider, esteem, presume, count upon, depend upon, calculate upon, pin one's faith upon, reckon upon, lean upon, build upon, rely upon, rest upon, lay one's account for, make sure of, make oneself easy about, on that score, take on trust, take on credit, take for granted, take for gospel, allow some weight to, attach some weight to, know, know for certain, have know, make no doubt, doubt not, be, rest assured, persuade oneself, assure oneself, satisfy oneself, make up one's mind, give one credit for, confide in, believe in, put one's trust in, place in, repose in, implicit confidence in, take one's word for, at one's word, place reliance on, rely upon, swear by, regard to, think, hold, take, take it, opine, be of opinion, conceive, trow, ween, fancy, apprehend, have it, hold a belief, possess, entertain a belief, adopt a belief, imbibe a belief, embrace a belief, get hold of a belief, hazard, foster, nurture a belief, cherish a belief, have an opinion, hold an opinion, possess, entertain an opinion, adopt an opinion, imbibe an opinion, embrace an opinion, get hold of an opinion, hazard an opinion, foster an opinion, nurture an opinion, cherish an opinion, view as, consider as, take as, hold as, conceive as, regard as, esteem as, deem as, look upon as, account as, set down as, surmise, get it into one's head, take it into one's head, come round to an opinion, swallow, cause to be believed, satisfy, persuade, have the ear of, gain the confidence of, assure, convince, convict, convert, wean, bring round, bring over, win over, indoctrinate, cram down the throat, produce conviction, carry conviction, bring home to, drive home to, go down, find credence, pass current, be received, be current, possess, take hold of, take possession of the mind.

Knowledge

VB know, ken, scan, wot, wot aware, be aware of, ween, weet, trow, have, possess, conceive, apprehend, comprehend, take, realize, understand, savvy, appreciate, fathom, make out, recognize, discern, perceive, see, get a sight-of, experience, know full well, have some knowledge of, possess some knowledge of, be au courant, have in one's head, have at one' fingers ends, know by heart, know by rote, be master of, connaitre le dessous des cartes, know what's what, see one's way, discover, come to one's knowledge.

Imagination

VB imagine, fancy, conceive, idealize, realize, dream, dream of, dream up, give to airy nothing a local habitation and a name, create, originate, devise, invent, coin, fabricate, improvise, strike out something new, set one's wits to work, strain one's invention, crack one's invention, rack one's brains, ransack one's brains, cudgel one's brains, excogitate, brainstorm, give play, give the reins, give a loose to the imagination, give fancy, indulge in reverie, visualize, envision, conjure up a vision, fancy oneself, represent oneself, picture, picture-oneself, figure to oneself, vorstellen, float in the mind, suggest itself.