concevoir

Forms

concevoir^[1] Old French and Anglo-Norman conceivre, conçoivre, past participle conceü, also conciez.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin concipiō (“to take in, contain, conceive”), formed from con- and capiō (“to take”).^[4][5][6] The Latin verb meant properly “to take in entirely”, then “to conceive a child”, “to form an idea” and “to put words into a formula”.^[4][5]

Cognate with Italian concepire, Spanish concebir, Portuguese conceber, Catalan concebre and Old Occitan concebre.^[7][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Philippe de Thaon's Comput (about 1120) has it both for conceiving a child and for forming a picture in the mind.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

The physical and the intellectual senses are recorded at the same time.^[5] Bloch and Wartburg, who date the intellectual sense only from the 14th century, think it came from written Latin, the medieval word mainly meaning “to become pregnant”.^[8]

From “to picture in the mind” came “to feel” an emotion (late 12th to early 13th century), now archaic, and “to form in one's mind, to imagine, to design” (late 12th century).^[4][5] The sense “to word, to draw up” (1538, ainsi conçu) was taken again from Latin and stayed rare.^[4][5] Its derivatives concevable (1547, then from 1647), inconcevable (1584) and préconçu (1640) belong to the intellectual sense.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1120 – Philippe de Thaon uses it for conceiving a child and an idea.^[4][5]
• Late 12th century – “To form in one's mind, to imagine”.^[4]
• Late 12th–early 13th century – “To feel” an emotion.^[4]
• 1538 – Robert Estienne records “to word, to draw up”.^[4][9]
• 1584 – Inconcevable appears.^[5][8]
• 1640 – Préconçu appears.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To conceive a child, to become pregnant: Elle a conçu son premier enfant à trente ans.^[10][4]
2. To form a concept or idea, to picture in the mind.^[10][3]
3. To understand, to grasp: Je conçois mal votre hésitation.^[10][3]
4. To design, to devise: Cet ingénieur a conçu un nouveau moteur.^[10][1]
5. (literary) To feel, to come to have a feeling: concevoir de l'amitié pour quelqu'un.^[4][3]
6. To word, to draw up in certain terms: une lettre ainsi conçue.^[4][9]

Word family

• inconcevable
• concevable
• préconçu

Related words

• concept
• concepteur
• conception
• conceptionnel
• conceptualisation
• conceptualiser
• conceptuel
• conceptuellement
• Latin concipiō

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
3. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 1008a
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
9. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert