concepire

Forms

concepire (first-person singular present concepìsco, first-person singular past historic concepìi, past participle concepìto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Italian concepere with a change of conjugation, inherited from Latin concipiō (“to take in; to conceive”), formed from con- and capiō (“to take”).^{[2][3][4][1][5]} The Latin verb meant “to take, comprehend” from Varro and “to conceive a child” from Pliny.^[5] Its popular outcomes are Old French conceivre and modern French concevoir, Catalan concebre, Spanish concebir and Portuguese conceber.^[3][5][6]

DEI and the GDLI call the Italian word semi-learned.^[6][7] The LEI finds it hard to tell popular and semi-learned forms apart: Old Italian wavered between the regular ending ⟨-ere⟩ and ⟨-ire⟩, which won, and between ⟨-p-⟩ and ⟨-v-⟩, where the semi-learned ⟨-p-⟩ prevailed.^[5] Devoto saw the influence of capire.^[8] The old past participle concetto continued Latin conceptus and was later replaced by concepito.^[1][9]

The Latin verb for “take” is from Proto-Italic *kap-i-, which de Vaan derives from Proto-Indo-European *kh₂p-i- or from a non-Indo-European source.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is the Contrasto of Cielo d'Alcamo, written between 1231 and 1250.^[11] DELI gives “to understand” in the 13th century (Chiaro Davanzati), the physical sense in concepere about 1300 in a Laud from Urbino and in concepire about 1336 in Boccaccio, and “to form an idea or a feeling” before 1342 in Domenico Cavalca.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The physical sense, to receive the seed of new life, is used above all of the Virgin, and Dante extends it to the earth, which concepe e figlia plants of different kinds.^[11][4][12] Figurative uses were there from the start: to form an idea in the mind, to grasp with the intellect, and to begin to feel an emotion, as in Leopardi's “when a man conceives love, the whole world vanishes from his eyes”.^[11][12] Old Italian also used it for contracting a vice and, in the phrase concepire le furie, for being seized by despair.^[11]

Later senses are to imagine or design (a novel, a plan), to see something in a given way, and, mostly in negative sentences, to be unable to understand how something could happen.^[4][13][14] Old senses such as “to absorb” (the earth taking in moisture) and “to catch fire” are now lost.^[9][4]

Timeline

• 1231–1250 – Cielo d'Alcamo's Contrasto has the verb.^[11]
• 13th century – Chiaro Davanzati uses it for “to understand”.^[2]
• Before 1306 – Iacopone has concepemento, conception.^[2]
• c. 1300 – Concepere “to conceive” is recorded in a Laud from Urbino.^[2]
• c. 1336 – Boccaccio uses concepire.^[2]
• Before 1342 – Domenico Cavalca uses it for forming an idea or feeling.^[2]
• 1573 – Inconcepibile is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To conceive a child; said of a woman or female animal, and in literature of plants and the earth: ha concepito il secondo figlio.^{[4][13][14][1]}
2. To begin to feel an emotion: concepire una forte antipatia.^[4][13][14]
3. To understand, to make sense of something; often negative: non riesco a concepire tanta crudeltà.^[4][13][14]
4. To devise or design something: concepire un nuovo progetto.^[4][13][14]
5. To see or interpret something in a given way; of a text, to word or lay it out in a given form.^[4][13][12]

Word family

• concepimento
• concepibile
• inconcepibile
• concepibilità
• riconcepire

Related words

• concezione
• concetto
• capire
• Latin concipiō

Usage notes

The old past participle concetto survives in religious phrases such as Maria concetta senza peccato and in the name Concetta.^[12] The present participle is replaced by the Latinism concipiente.^[15][12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 16, 1012
6. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1044
7. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
8. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ a b c d e Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
12. ^ a b c d e Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
13. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
14. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
15. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana