conception

English

Etymology

From Middle English conceptioun, from Old French conception, from Latin conceptio (“a comprehending, a collection, composition, an expression, also a becoming pregnant”), from concipere, past participle conceptus (“conceive”); see conceive.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /kənˈsɛpʃən/, X-SAMPA: /k@n"sEpS@n/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

conception (plural conceptions)

1. The act of conceiving.
2. The state of being conceived; the beginning.
3. The fertilization of an ovum by a sperm to form a zygote.
4. The start of pregnancy.
5. The formation of a conceptus or an implanted embryo.
6. 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.
7. An image, idea, or notion formed in the mind; a concept, plan or design.

Quotations

• 1611, King James Version of the Bible (Authorized Version)^[1], Genesis 3:16

  Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

Antonyms

• misconception

Related terms

• conceive
• concept

Translations

initiation of an embryonic animal life

• Afrikaans: konsepsie (af)
• Arabic: حبل (ar) (Hábal) m, حمل (ar) (Haml) m
• Bulgarian: зачеване (bg) (začevane) n 
• Catalan: concepció (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 受胎 (cmn) (shòutāi), 受精 (cmn) (shòujīng), 懷孕 (cmn), 怀孕 (cmn) (huáiyùn)

• Czech: početí (cs) n
• Esperanto: gravediĝo (eo)
• Estonian: kontseptsioon (et)
• French: conception (fr) f
• German: Empfängnis (de) n
• Greek: σύλληψη (el) (sýllipsi) f , επικύηση (el) (epikýisi) f 
• Hungarian: fogamzás (hu), fogantatás (hu)

• Icelandic: getnaður (is) m
• Irish: gcoimpeart (ga) f
• Italian: concezione (it) f, concepimento (it) m
• Japanese: 妊娠 (ja) (にんしん, ninshin), 受胎 (ja) (じゅたい, jutai)
• Latin: conceptio (la) f
• Norwegian: unnfangelse (no) f
• Polish: poczęcie (pl) n
• Portuguese: concepção (pt) f
• Romanian: concepere (ro) f, zămislire (ro) f, concepție (ro) f
• Russian: зачатие (ru) (začátije) n 
• Serbo-Croatian: koncepcija (sh) f
• Spanish: concepción (es) f
• Swedish: konception (sv) n
• Vietnamese: quan niệm (vi)

The power or faculty of apprehending of forming an idea in the mind

• Bulgarian: , разбиране (bg) n (razbirane)
• Greek: σύλληψη (el) (sýllipsi) f 

• Hungarian: felfogás (hu)
• Romanian: concepere (ro)

An image, idea, or notion formed in the mind

• Bulgarian: , представа (bg) f (predstava), понятие (bg) (ponjatie), концепция (bg) f (koncepcija)
• Greek: επινόηση (el) (epinóisi) f , ιδέα (el) (idéa) f 
• Hungarian: fogalom (hu)

• Italian: concetto (it)
• Romanian: concept (ro) n, concepție (ro) f, imagine (ro) f, idee (ro) f, concepții (ro) f pl

See also

• contraception

References

• conception in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• conception in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913

---

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin conceptio (“comprehension, understanding”).

Pronunciation

• IPA: /kɔ̃.kəp.sjɔ̃/

Noun

conception f (plural conceptions)

1. conception (of a child)
2. conception (beginning, start)
3. ability to understand
4. viewpoint; angle
5. concept, idea

Related terms

• concevoir