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What is "conceive"

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conceive
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
conceive
verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
as
▪ It was suggested above that the duty of care is best conceived as imposing essentially procedural standards.
▪ As conceived by writer-director Victor Salva, our male protagonists are more symbolic than human.
▪ Something informing these descriptions of Wilde and his art is a fear of degeneration as conceived by writers of the time.
originally
▪ That is not the way Alma Cogan originally conceived her lyric.
■ NOUN
child
▪ They had loved each other, shared a life together, conceived a beautiful child together.
▪ They conceive a child, marry and quickly divorce at the grandparents' behest.
▪ If she were to conceive a child in these circumstances she would hardly believe that any part of it was hers.
▪ The Clintons have neither conceived nor adopted a child since the birth of Chelsea 16 years ago.
▪ Mary was to conceive a child without the usual help of the male.
▪ It could lead to the poor of the world conceiving children and selling the foetuses to help the rich.
idea
▪ It was during this period that he conceived the idea of an airline devoted to small package shipments.
▪ Y., which conceived the idea and grew the potatoes.
▪ It is aimed at beginners with clear minds and no pre-conceived ideas about what writing is all about!
▪ It was here that he first conceived the idea of being a peasant painter.
▪ So we drove up the Llanberis Pass and on the way conceived the unoriginal compromise idea of a Snowdon Horseshoe circuit.
plan
▪ Recognizing in Laz a kindred passion, I conceive a plan.
▪ To stop Tootle from going astray, the townspeople get together and conceive ofa clever plan, in which they all participate.
process
▪ Henceforth the whole cosmos or at least the whole solar system must be conceived as a process of constant historical change.
▪ Jane Addams conceived of the process in terms of learning and democracy.
■ VERB
try
▪ This leads to problems when I try to conceive of my own knowing, believing or thinking in behaviourist terms.
▪ Married at 44, she tried to conceive naturally until going through menopause at age 46.
▪ Although I did what I could to try to conceive a girl, I couldn't be sure that I had.
▪ She placed another thick branch on the fire and tried to conceive a sensible agenda for the day.
▪ Moore's method of isolation bids us try to conceive a sample of such education in entire isolation.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ "We wanted to make something new and original,'' said Colin Smith, the man who conceived the show.
▪ Ben and Tracy are hoping to conceive a second child soon.
▪ I don't believe an author could have conceived a more romantic first meeting.
▪ The painting is beautifully conceived in every way -- composition, colour and texture.
▪ The young Edvard Munch conceived of a radically new approach to his art.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ First results from the lambs born to the 76 ewes that conceived as a result of using frozen Est-a-Laine semen were satisfactory.
▪ Ovulation prediction tests are not only for those having problems conceiving.
▪ Probably conceived in utero, he first spoke these words to me when we were considering Yeats' epitaph.
▪ Recognizing in Laz a kindred passion, I conceive a plan.
▪ She could not refuse him; and conceived again.
▪ The female nude has been conceived as an expression of fundamental principles of order and design.
▪ Though our results need replication, this suggests that our results may be applicable to women attempting to conceive naturally.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Conceive

Conceive \Con*ceive"\, v. i.

  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.

Conceive

Conceive \Con*ceive"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Conceived; p. pr. & vb. n. Conceiving.] [OF. conzoivre, concever, conceveir, F. concevoir, fr. L. oncipere to take, to conceive; con- + capere to seize or take. See Capable, and cf. Conception.]

  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. 1

  3. 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.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
conceive

late 13c., conceiven, "take (seed) into the womb, become pregnant," from stem of Old French conceveir (Modern French concevoir), from Latin concipere (past participle conceptus) "to take in and hold; become pregnant," from com-, intensive prefix (see com-), + comb. form of capere "to take," from PIE *kap- "to grasp" (see capable). Meaning "take into the mind" is from mid-14c., a figurative sense also found in the Old French and Latin words. Related: Conceived; conceiving.

Wiktionary
conceive

vb. (context transitive English) To develop an idea; to form in the mind; to plan; to devise; to originate.

WordNet
conceive

  1. v. have the idea for; "He conceived of a robot that would help paralyzed patients"; "This library was well conceived" [syn: gestate, conceptualize, conceptualise]

  2. judge or regard; look upon; judge; "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" [syn: think, believe, consider]

  3. become pregnant; undergo conception; "She cannot conceive"; "My daughter was conceived in Christmas Day"

Related phrases:
Wikipedia
Conceive (magazine)

Conceive Magazine is a health and lifestyle publication that provides information about women's health and fertility, about various methods of conception (natural, alternative, assisted and high-tech), and about adoption. The magazine has its headquarters in Orlando, Florida.

Usage examples of "conceive".

The middle classes of Alca conceived a profound admiration for the Emiral.

Bristol nor I could conceive of any one seeking to possess the bloodstained thing except the mysterious leader of the Hashishin - Hassan of Aleppo - as a creature of that awful fanatic being I had written her down.

As for the foreign fur traders, he conceived the brilliant plan of buying food from them in exchange for Russian furs and of supplying them with brigades of Aleut Island hunters to scour the Pacific for sea-otter from Nootka and the Columbia to southern California.

I really can hardly conceive a higher enjoyment than a botanical tour among the Alleghany mountains, to any one who had science enough to profit by it.

In truth, it was, of course, a great mistake to conceive Americanism as intellectually and morally a species of Newer-Worldliness.

He conceived of Army participation in antisubmarine air warfare as a temporary expedient.

No, if Catherine was the ghost, and that was by no means certain, then she had not conceived the idea of haunting Appleton Manor on her own.

From these sensible resolutions, the reader may conceive some idea of the misconduct that attends the management of the poor in England, as well as of the grievous burdens entailed upon the people by the present laws which constitute this branch of the legislature.

Hastings, conceiving that if the faction opposed to Baboo and Ragoba should prevail, the territories of Bombay would be in danger, proposed in council that every assistance should be given, and that an army should be forthwith sent from Calcutta and Bombay.

He was a bannerless knight, named Julien de Boys-Bourredon, who not having inherited on his estate enough to make a toothpick, and knowing no other wealth than the rich nature with which his dead mother had opportunely furnished him, conceived the idea of deriving therefrom both rent and profit at court, knowing how fond ladies are of those good revenues, and value them high and dear, when they can stand being looked at between two suns.

Teams of behaviorists assembled in the sewers and conceived a brand of futurism based on filing procedures.

Or was I one of those children conceived on Beltane when a woman often mated with many men so that none could truly claim me?

I must do something to convince my father that my mind and soul sincerely revolted at the thought of mating with Bharata Rahon, and so I conceived the idea of running away and going out into the jungle that I might prove that I preferred death to the man my father had chosen for me.

Christians obtained the free exercise of their religion by an edict addressed to the bishops, and conceived in such terms as seemed to acknowledge their office and public character.

He was beginning to conceive a deep hatred for the blackmailer in the case that went far beyond duty.