Conception

How to spell conception

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce conception

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does conception mean?

1. nounA general idea, plan, or way of understanding something formed in the mind.
2. nounThe process of a sperm fertilising an egg, marking the beginning of pregnancy.

Conception in a sentence

• The architect presented her bold conception for the new library.

• The clinic dates the pregnancy from the estimated time of conception.

• He had no conception of how much the project would eventually cost.

• Good nutrition before conception can improve maternal health.

Where does conception come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin conceptio, a noun meaning 'a gathering together' or 'a taking in', which was built on the verb concipere, 'to take in completely' or 'to conceive'. That verb joined the prefix con-, meaning 'together' or 'wholly', with capere, the everyday Latin verb for 'to take' or 'to seize'. From the earliest Latin the word carried both senses that English still keeps: the literal taking in of seed to begin a pregnancy, and the figurative taking in of an idea by the mind. English borrowed it through Old French in the 1300s, and the spelling kept the Latin cept rather than the sound we hear, which is why the silent path from capere to a soft 'sep' sound trips writers up. The same cept root surfaces in a whole family of relatives such as receive, accept, and concept, all of which trace back to that one idea of taking.

How the word is built

• con- (together)
• cept (from Latin capere: to take, seize)
• -ion (noun-forming suffix)