conception
Meanings
- The act of conceiving.
- The state of being conceived; the beginning.
- The fertilization of an ovum by a sperm to form a zygote.
- The start of pregnancy.
- The formation of a conceptus or an implanted embryo.
- The power or faculty of apprehending of forming an idea in the mind; the power of recalling a past sensation or perception; the ability to form mental abstractions.
- An image, idea, or notion formed in the mind; a concept, plan or design.
- Something conceived or designed.
Pronunciation
Word forms
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱe Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm Proto-Italic *kom Proto-Italic *kom- Latin con- Proto-Indo-European *kap- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *kapyéti Proto-Italic *kapjō Old Latin kapiō Latin capiō Ancient Greek σῠλλᾰμβᾰ́νω (sŭllămbắnō)calq. Latin concipiō Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *-Hō Proto-Indo-European *-tiHō Proto-Italic *-tiō Latin -tiō Latin conceptiōlbor. Old French conceptionbor. Middle English concepcioun English conception From Middle English concepcioun, borrowed from Old French conception, from Latin conceptiō (“a comprehending, a collection, composition, an expression, also a becoming pregnant”), from concipiō, past participle conceptus (“conceive”); see conceive. Equivalent to conceive + -tion.