Etymologically
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conceive

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Pronunciation

  • /kənˈsiːv/[1]

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

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