Main Entry:

con·ceive

Pronunciation:

\kən-ˈsēv\

Function:

verb

Inflected Form(s):

con·ceived; con·ceiv·ing

Etymology:

Middle English, from Anglo-French conceivre, from Latin concipere to take in, conceive, from com- + capere to take — more at heave

Date:

14th century

transitive verb1 a: to become pregnant with (young) <conceive a child> b: to cause to begin : originate <a project conceived by the company's founder>2 a: to take into one's mind <conceive a prejudice> b: to form a conception of : imagine <a badly conceived design>3: to apprehend by reason or imagination : understand <unable to conceive his reasons>4: to have as an opinion <I cannot conceive that he acted alone>intransitive verb1: to become pregnant2: to have a conception —usually used with of<conceives of death as emptiness>

synonyms see think

— con·ceiv·er noun