Conceive

Conceive - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

CONCEIVE, v.t. [L., to take.]

1. To receive into the womb, and breed; to begin the formation of the embryo or fetus of animal.

Then shall she be free and conceive seed. Num 5. Heb 11.

Elisabeth hath conceived a son in her old age. Luke 1.

In sin did my mother conceive me. Psa 51.

2. To form in the mind; to imagine; to devise.

They conceive mischief and bring forth vanity. Job 15.

Nebuchadnezzar hath conceived a purpose against you. Jer 49.

3. To form an idea in the mind; to understand; to comprehend.

We cannot conceive the manner in which spirit operates upon matter.

4. To think; to be of opinion; to have an idea; to imagine.

You can hardly conceive this man to have been bred in the same climate.

CONCEIVE, v.i.

1. To have a fetus formed in the womb; to breed; to become pregnant.

Thou shalt conceive and bear a son. Judg 13.

2. To think; to have a conception or idea.

Conceive of things clearly and distinctly in their own natures. The grieved commons hardly conceive of me.

3. To understand; to comprehend; to have a complete idea of; as, I cannot conceive by what means this event has been produced.

Conceived - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

CONCEIVED, pp. Formed in the womb; framed in the mind; devised; imagined; understood.

Conception - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

CONCEPTION, n. [L., See Conceive.]

1. The act of conceiving; the first formation of the embryo or fetus of an animal.

I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception. Gen 3.

2. The state of being conceived.

Joy had the like conception in our eyes.

3. In pneumatology, apprehension of nay thing by the mind; the act of conceiving in the mind; that mental act or combination of acts by which an idea or notion is formed of an absent object of perception, or of a sensation formerly felt. When we see an object with our eyes open, we have a perception of it; when the same object is presented to the mind with the eyes shut, in idea only or in memory, we have a conception of it.

4. Conception may be sometimes used for the power of conceiving ideas, as when we say, a thing is not within our conception. Some writers have defined conception as a distinct faculty of the mind; but it is considered by others as memory, and perhaps with propriety.

5. Purpose conceived; conception with reference to the performance of an act.

6. Apprehension; knowledge.

And as if beasts conceived what reason were, and that conception should distinctly show.

7. Conceit; affected sentiment, or thought.

He is too full of conceptions, points of epigram, and witticisms.

kon-sep'-shun, kon-sev' (harah, and derivatives; sullambano): Physically, the beginning of a new life in the womb of a mother, "to catch on," used thus some forty times, as in Ge 3:16; 4:1; Ps 51:5. Metaphorically, applied to the start and growth within the heart, of thought, purpose, desire, e.g. "conceive mischief" (Job 15:35; Ps 7:14), "conceive chaff" (Isa 33:11). This figure is carried out in details in Jas 1:15: "Lust, when it hath conceived, beareth sin."

Definition

Used in this sense, the terms “conceive” and “conception” usually refer to a woman becoming pregnant with a child. It can also be used for animals that become pregnant.

• The phrase “conceive a child” could be translated as “become pregnant” or some other term that is an acceptable way of referring to this.
• The related term “conception” could be translated as “beginning of a pregnancy” or “moment of becoming pregnant.”
• Depending on context, the term “conceived” could be translated as “became pregnant” or “became pregnant with.”

(See also: create, womb)

Bible References

• Genesis 21:1-4
• Hosea 2:4-5
• Job 15:35
• Luke 1:24-25
• Luke 2:21

Word Data

• Strong’s: H2029, H2030, H2032, H2232, H2254, H2803, H3179, G10800, G17220, G28450, G48150