conception

1 an idea or statement about all of the members of a group or all the instances of a situation <the false conception that wheelchair users are homebound and helpless> Synonyms concept, generalization, generality, notion, stereotypeRelated Words bromide, cliché (also cliche), commonplace, platitude, truism; adage, proverb, saw, saying; hypothesis, proposition, theory; oversimplification, simplification, simplism

2 something imagined or pictured in the mind <our changing conceptions of what constitutes art> Synonyms abstraction, cogitation, concept, idea, image, impression, intellection, mind's eye, notion, picture, thoughtRelated Words apprehension, premonition, presentiment; preconception, prejudice, prepossession; chimera, delusion, hallucination, illusion, phantasm (also fantasm); caprice, conceit, fancy, freak, kink, vagary, whim; cognition, observation, perception, reflection; assumption, belief, conclusion, conviction; conjecture, guess, hunch, hypothesis, speculation, supposition, surmise, theory; brainchild, brainstorm, brain wave, inspirationNear Antonyms actuality, fact, reality