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Webster's Dictionary (1865)

2 entries under this word

Conceive

Con-cēive', v. t.

verbtransitive

(kon-seev'), v. t. [imp. & p. p. CONCEIVED; p. pr. & vb. n. CONCEIVING.] [O. Fr. concever, conceveir, N. Fr. concevoir, Pr. concebre, Pg. conceber, Sp. concebir, It. concepere, concepire, from Lat. concipere, from con and capere, to seize or take.]

Sense 1. To receive into the womb and breed; to begin the formation of the embryo of.

She hath also conceived a son in her old age. Luke i. 36.

Sense 2. To form in the mind, as a purpose or plan; to devise.

It was among the ruins of the Capitol that I first conceived the idea of a work which has amused and exercised near twenty years of my life. Gibbon.

Sense 3. To comprehend by assigning a reason or cause; to suppose possible; to picture to the imagination; to imagine.

You will hardly conceive him to have been bred in the same climate. Swift.

Synonyms—To apprehend; imagine; suppose; understand; comprehend; believe; think.

Con-cēive', v. i.

verbintransitive

v. i. 1. To have an embryo formed in the womb; to breed; to become pregnant. A virgin shall conceive, and bear a son. Isa. vii. 14.

Sense 2. To have a conception, idea, or opinion; to think;—with of. Conceive of things clearly and distinctly in their own natures. Watts. The grieved commons Hardly conceive of me. Shak.