conceive

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English conceiven,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Old French conceveir, also conceivre, taken from its stressed stem conceiv-,^{[3][4][5][6][7]} modern concevoir.^[4][8] The Anglo-Norman verb is recorded from 1113–19, already meaning to become pregnant, to engender, to form thoughts or feelings, to plan and to understand.^[9][10] The French verb is from Latin concipiō (“to take in, absorb; to become pregnant; to form an idea of”),^[10][4][11] formed from com-, here an intensive prefix, and capiō (“to take”),^[11][4][12] from Proto-Indo-European *kap- (“to grasp”).^[4][11] The Latin verb also gave Spanish concebir, Portuguese conceber and Italian concepire.^[10][4] Ayto groups it with deceive, perceive and receive, whose common French element -ceiv- goes back to the same Latin verb.^[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

To become pregnant: the South English Legendary, composed probably about 1280 and surviving in a copy of about 1375.^[2][3] Etymonline dates this sense to the late 13th century.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Nearly all the senses were already present in Latin, where the basic idea was to take something in and hold it;^[4][10] Ayto explains that "take to oneself" gave both "take into the mind" and "become pregnant".^[12] The mental senses appear in English in 1340, in the Ayenbite of Inwyt: to form an intention in the mind, and to understand something.^[10][3] In early use the heart rather than the mind could be said to conceive.^[10] Gower used it before 1393 for coming to feel an emotion and for holding an opinion,^[10] and Chaucer used the verb 17 times, for engendering, feeling and understanding.^[13] The sense "to express in words", recorded from about 1390, is now rare,^[10][14] and the 16th century added the senses "to take an oath" (1561–1767) and "to form the idea of a work or invention" (1589).^[10][5] Johnson (1755) gave first "to admit into the womb", then "to form in the mind; to imagine".^[15] The derivative conceivable is recorded about 1454.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1280 – to become pregnant.^[2][3]
• 1340 – to form an intention in the mind; to understand.^[10][3]
• c. 1390 – to express in a particular form of words.^[10]
• before 1393 – to come to feel an emotion; to think, believe.^[10]
• c. 1454 – conceivable.^[3]
• 1561 – to take an oath (obsolete by 1767).^[10]
• 1589 – to form the idea of a work or invention.^[10]
• 1755 – Johnson: "to admit into the womb"; "to form in the mind".^[15]

Meanings

Verb

1. To become pregnant, or become pregnant with a child: They conceived their second son that summer.^[6][14][16]
2. To form a plan or idea in the mind; to devise: The festival was conceived by two students.^[6][14][10]
3. To imagine or think of; with of, to form a notion of.^[14][6]
4. To come to have a feeling: He conceived a strong dislike for the city.^[14][10]
5. To hold as an opinion; to believe.^[14][10]
6. To start something that can grow and develop; to originate.^[6]
7. (rare) To put into words; to couch.^[14][10]

Word family

• conceivability
• conceivable
• conceivably
• conceiver
• misconceive
• nonconceiving
• preconceive
• reconceive

Related words

• concept
• conception
• conceit
• deceive
• perceive
• receive
• capture

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
12. ^ a b c Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
13. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
14. ^ a b c d e f g Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
15. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
16. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin