Conceive

Con*ceive" (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Conceived (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Conceiving.] [OF. conzoivre, concever, conceveir, F. concevoir, fr. L. oncipere to take, to conceive; con- + capere to seize or take. See Capable, and cf. Conception.] 1. To receive into the womb and begin to breed; to begin the formation of the embryo of.

She hath also conceived a son in her old age.
Luke i. 36.

2. To form in the mind; to plan; to devise; to generate; to originate; as, to conceive a purpose, plan, hope.

It was among the ruins of the Capitol that I first conceived the idea of a work which has amused and exercised near twenty years of my life.
Gibbon.

Conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.
Is. lix. 13.

3. To apprehend by reason or imagination; to take into the mind; to know; to imagine; to comprehend; to understand. "I conceive you." Hawthorne.

O horror, horror, horror! Tongue nor heart
Cannot conceive nor name thee!
Shak.

You will hardly conceive him to have been bred in the same climate.
Swift.

Syn. -- To apprehend; imagine; suppose; understand; comprehend; believe; think.

Con*ceive", v. i. 1. To have an embryo or fetus formed in the womb; to breed; to become pregnant.

A virgin shall conceive, and bear a son.
Isa. vii. 14.

2. To have a conception, idea, or opinion; think; -- with of.

Conceive of things clearly and distinctly in their own natures.
I. Watts.