Conceive

How to spell conceive

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce conceive

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does conceive mean?

1. verbTo form or devise an idea, plan, or notion in the mind.
2. verbTo become pregnant; to begin the development of a baby.

Conceive in a sentence

• The architect managed to conceive a bold design for the new library.

• The couple struggled for years to conceive before seeking medical advice.

• It is hard to conceive how anyone could finish the project in a single week.

• Doctors explained how difficult it can be to conceive after a certain age.

Where does conceive come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word travelled into English from the Latin verb concipere, which combined con- meaning 'together' or 'thoroughly' with capere, the everyday Latin verb for 'to take' or 'to grasp'. In Latin it literally meant 'to take in completely', and it was used both for physically taking in seed (becoming pregnant) and for mentally taking in an idea, so the two modern senses sit comfortably side by side. English borrowed it through Old French conceivre in the 1200s, and the French spelling is the reason we end up with the -ceive ending rather than something closer to the Latin -cipe. The same capere root lurks inside many relatives, including 'receive', 'perceive', 'deceive' and even 'capture', and crucially all of the -ceive words follow the classic 'i before e, except after c' pattern, which is exactly the spelling trap here. Remembering that family link keeps the e and the i in their proper order.

How the word is built

• con- (together, thoroughly)
• -ceive (from Latin capere: to take, grasp)