conception English · revision 39851

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c1350, William of Shoreham, Poems|origins=la capiō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /kənˈsɛpʃən/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|concepcioun]],^(AHD 2024)^(MWU 2024) [[bor|xno|concepcioun]] or [[m|fro|concepcion]],^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2024)^(MWU 2024) and partly directly [[der|la|conceptiō|t=a comprehending; conception]].^(OED 2026)^(Dictionary.com 2016)^(Klein 1966) The Latin noun was formed from [[m|la|conceptus]], the past participle of [[m|la|concipiō|t=to take in and hold; to become pregnant]], the source of [[conceive]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(Skeat 1911)^(Hoad 1986) which is made up of [[m|la|con-]], here perhaps intensive, and a form of [[m|la|capiō|t=to take]],^(Etymonline) from the Indo-European root [[ine-pro|*keh₂p-|t=to grasp]].^(Etymonline) In Anglo-Norman the word is recorded from the second quarter of the 12th century for the beginning of pregnancy,^(AND) originally with reference to the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary.^(OED 2026)^(Weekley 1921)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The act of conceiving offspring in the womb, or of being conceived: about 1350, in the poems of William of Shoreham;^(OED 2026) Etymonline dates it to the early 14th century,^(Etymonline) Weekley to about 1300, first of the Immaculate Conception,^(Weekley 1921) and Hoad to the 13th century.^(Hoad 1986) Dictionary.com gives 1300–50.^(Dictionary.com 2016)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word was first used of pregnancy, also with reference to the feast of the Conception in the Church calendar.^(Etymonline) The mental sense, the act or power of forming ideas, followed in the late 14th century, in Trevisa's translation of Higden's ''Polychronicon'',^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) by the same metaphor as the verb ''conceive''.^(Hoad 1986) An idea or mental image itself, that which is conceived in the mind, is recorded from 1526,^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) and an opinion or view from 1603.^(OED 2026) Etymonline dates the sense "general notion" to 1785.^(Etymonline) In philosophy Hobbes used it in 1650 for forming an idea of a particular thing,^(OED 2026) and Coleridge in 1818 for grasping a general concept.^(OED 2026) The figurative sense, the first coming into being of something, is recorded from 1613.^(OED 2026)^(Collins 2023) The sense "embryo, offspring" was used from before 1398 to 1821 and is now obsolete.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c1350 – conceiving in the womb.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)

+ * a1387 – the forming of ideas in the mind.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)

+ * a1398–1821 – an embryo or offspring (obsolete).^(OED 2026)

+ * a1400 – the Conception of the Virgin Mary.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1526 – an idea, a mental image.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1603 – an opinion or notion.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1613 – a beginning, coming into being.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1785 – a general notion.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The act of [[conceive|alt=conceiving]] a child; the [[fertilization]] of an egg leading to [[pregnancy]].^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # The forming of ideas; the ability to imagine or understand something.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # An idea, [[notion]] or plan; the way in which something is understood: ''Her conception of a good holiday involves no beaches at all.''^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # The origin or beginning of something: ''The project was underfunded from its conception.''^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[conceptional]]

+ * [[conceptive]]

+ * [[postconception]]

+ * [[preconception]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[conceive]]

+ * [[concept]]

+ * [[contraception]]

+ * [[capture]]

+ * [[receive]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}