Library / English Dictionary

CONCEIVE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Become pregnant; undergo conception

Example:

My daughter was conceived in Christmas Day

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Hypernyms (to "conceive" is one way to...):

change state; turn (undergo a transformation or a change of position or action)

"Conceive" entails doing...:

copulate; couple; mate; pair (engage in sexual intercourse)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "conceive"):

superfetate (conceive when a fetus is already present in the uterus)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

conception (the act of becoming pregnant; fertilization of an ovum by a spermatozoon)

conceptive (capable of conceiving)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Judge or regard; look upon; judge

Example:

The racist conceives such people to be inferior

Synonyms:

believe; conceive; consider; think

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "conceive" is one way to...):

evaluate; judge; pass judgment (form a critical opinion of)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "conceive"):

hold (remain committed to)

rethink (change one's mind)

think (dispose the mind in a certain way)

be known as; esteem; know as; look on; look upon; regard as; repute; take to be; think of (look on as or consider)

feel (have a feeling or perception about oneself in reaction to someone's behavior or attitude)

consider; reckon; regard; see; view (deem to be)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s something Adjective/Noun
Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 3

Meaning:

Have the idea for

Example:

This library was well conceived

Synonyms:

conceive; conceptualise; conceptualize; gestate

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Hypernyms (to "conceive" is one way to...):

create by mental act; create mentally (create mentally and abstractly rather than with one's hands)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "conceive"):

design (conceive or fashion in the mind; invent)

preconceive (conceive beforehand)

discover; find (make a discovery, make a new finding)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s PP

Sentence example:

Did he conceive his major works over a short period of time?

Derivation:

conceiver (someone who creates new things)

concept (an abstract or general idea inferred or derived from specific instances)

conception (the creation of something in the mind)

Credits

 Context examples: 

If you have been longing for a baby, this month—along with the first three weeks of January—is ideal to start trying to conceive or to have an in-vitro procedure.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Women in the mildly deficient range had a smaller, statistically insignificant increase in the time it took to conceive.

(Iodine deficiency may reduce pregnancy chances, National Institutes of Health)

He did not conceive of her body as a body, subject to the ills and frailties of bodies.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

That screw-driver and those screws were, as I conceive, for fixing it up.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He conceives an idea more creditable to his head than to his heart.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The process of conceiving a baby.

(Method of Conception, NCI Thesaurus)

The best state of well-being an individual can conceive of experiencing.

(Best Imaginable Health, NCI Thesaurus)

The capacity to conceive or to induce conception.

(Fertility, NCI Thesaurus)

But, Anne, only conceive how extraordinary!

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

Indifferent! Oh! no—I never conceived you could become indifferent.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)