conceive Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. verb have the idea for
    gestate; conceptualize; conceptualise.
    • He conceived of a robot that would help paralyzed patients
    • This library was well conceived
  2. verb judge or regard; look upon; judge
    believe; think; consider.
    • I think he is very smart
    • I believe her to be very smart
    • I think that he is her boyfriend
    • The racist conceives such people to be inferior
  3. verb become pregnant; undergo conception
    • She cannot conceive
    • My daughter was conceived in Christmas Day

WordNet

Con*ceive" transitive verb
Etymology
OF. conzoivre, concever, conceveir, F. concevoir, fr. L. oncipere to take, to conceive; con- + capere to seize or take. See Capable, and cf. Conception.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Conceived ; present participle & verbal noun Conceiving
Definitions
  1. To receive into the womb and begin to breed; to begin the formation of the embryo of.
    She hath also conceived a son in her old age. Luke i. 36.
  2. To form in the mind; to plan; to devise; to generate; to originate; as, to conceive a purpose, plan, hope.
    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.
    Conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. Is. lix. 13.
  3. To apprehend by reason or imagination; to take into the mind; to know; to imagine; to comprehend; to understand. "I conceive you." Hawthorne.
    O horror, horror, horror! Tongue nor heart Cannot conceive nor name thee! Shak.
    You will hardly conceive him to have been bred in the same climate. Swift.
    Syn. -- To apprehend; imagine; suppose; understand; comprehend; believe; think.
Con*ceive" intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To have an embryo or fetus formed in the womb; to breed; to become pregnant.
    A virgin shall conceive, and bear a son. Isa. vii. 14.
  2. To have a conception, idea, or opinion; think; -- with of.
    Conceive of things clearly and distinctly in their own natures. I. Watts.

Webster 1913