CONCEPTION • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Conception

Add this Dictionary
to your website!
See more options...

/kənsˈɛpʃən/ Listen

noun

Conception n.

1.

The act of conceiving in the womb; the initiation of an embryonic animal life. "I will greaty multiply thy sorrow and thy conception."

2.

The state of being conceived; beginning. "Joy had the like conception in our eyes."

3.

The power or faculty of apprehending of forming an idea in the mind; the power of recalling a past sensation or perception. "Under the article of conception, I shall confine myself to that faculty whose province it is to enable us to form a notion of our past sensations, or of the objects of sense that we have formerly perceived."

4.

The formation in the mind of an image, idea, or notion, apprehension. "Conception consists in a conscious act of the understanding, bringing any given object or impression into the same class with any number of other objects or impression, by means of some character or characters common to them all."

5.

The image, idea, or notion of any action or thing which is formed in the mind; a concept; a notion; a universal; the product of a rational belief or judgment. See Concept. "He (Herodotus) says that the sun draws or attracts the water; a metaphorical term obviously intended to denote some more general and abstract conception than that of the visible operation which the word primarily signifies."

6.

Idea; purpose; design. "Note this dangerous conception."

7.

Conceit; affected sentiment or thought. (Obs.) "He... is full of conceptions, points of epigram, and witticism."

Synonyms: Idea; notion; perception; apprehemsion; comprehension.

See images of 'Conception'

Etymology of 'Conception'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

Share |

"Conception" Quotes from Famous Books

... the berlingot as it turned through the iron gates and took the road to Troyes. Laurence repeated the old man's last words. But sage experience should not present itself to the eyes of youth in a berlingot, colored stockings, and a queue. These ardent young hearts had no conception of the change that had passed over France; indignation crisped their nerves, honor boiled with their noble ...

— An Historical Mystery • Honore de Balzac

... But the draft of it was; the idea of it had been conceived eight months ago. Perhaps she had thought of her story before Vickers had thought of his. Perhaps? No; it was very probable; there was no doubt of it, in fact. That was the important thing: the conception of the idea, not the execution. And if this was true, her claim ...

— The Spinner's Book of Fiction • Various

... with magnificent artifice, and at once fresh emotions began to stir. Love had endured its little hour, and stern ambition now asserted itself. Oh, to be a splendid fellow like this, self-contained, ready of speech, agile beyond conception, braving the forces of society, his hand against everyone, yet always getting the best of it! What freshness of humour, what courtesy to dames, what triumphant ability to discomfit rivals, frock-coated and moustached though they might be! And what a grand, self-confident ...

— Dream Days • Kenneth Grahame

... on England, does the real reason of this singular idiosyncrasy appear. The company of the Heptameron are the latest representatives, at first hand, and with no deliberate purpose of presentment, of the mediaeval conception of gentlemen and ladies who fleeted the time goldenly. They are not themselves any longer mediaeval; they have been taught modern ways; they have a kind of uneasy sense (even though one and another of themselves may now and then flout the idea) of the importance of other classes, ...

— The Tales Of The Heptameron, Vol. I. (of V.) • Margaret, Queen Of Navarre

... labour to the very utmost of their strength for the salvation of others without the hope of earthly reward. Of the practical common sense, the resource, the readiness for every form of usefulness of those Officers and Soldiers, the world has no conception. Still less is it capable of understanding the height and depth of their self-sacrificing devotion to God ...

— "In Darkest England and The Way Out" • General William Booth

Copyright © 2026 e-Free Translation.com