conception

noun

Saykuhn-SEP-shuhnUK/kənˈsɛpʃən/AUS/kənˈsepʃən/

7 meanings of conception

1
nouncountable
A product of thought or imagination, such as an idea, mental image, plan, or design.
The architect's conception of the museum blended glass with natural stone.
Early conceptions of the universe placed Earth at the center.
Similaridea, notion, concept, vision, image
2
noununcountable
The start of pregnancy: the point at which a woman becomes pregnant.
Folic acid is recommended in the weeks around conception.
The clinic counts gestational age from the likely date of conception.
Similarfertilization, impregnation
3
noununcountable
The formation of a zygote when a sperm fertilizes an egg.
Conception occurs when a single sperm penetrates the ovum.
The textbook describes the cellular events that follow conception.
Similarfertilization, impregnation
Note
The biological sense has a long literary pedigree. In Christopher Marlowe's Tamburlaine the Great (c. 1587–1588), powers "divine, or else infernal" mix "their angry seeds" at the hero's conception, so his fearsome pride is a matter of birth. Strictly, this sense fixes the moment at fertilization, while the implantation sense places it later. In technical writing it is worth making clear which one is meant.
4
noununcountable
The mind's capacity to grasp or form ideas, to recall past sensations or perceptions, and to think in abstractions.
Strong powers of conception allowed her to grasp abstract theories quickly.
Memory and conception together let the mind recall and reshape past impressions.
Similarimagination, understanding, comprehension, apprehension
Note
The faculty of grasping ideas shows up most readily in negatives. Someone has "no conception" or "not the slightest conception" of a subject, meaning no grasp of it at all. In Paul Selver's translation of Karel Čapek's R.U.R., the old atheist "hadn't the slightest conception of industrial matters". In this idiom the word is close to understanding, and it usually takes of.
5
noununcountable
The act or process of forming something (an idea, plan, or design) in the mind.
The conception of the symphony came to the composer during a long walk.
From its conception, the campaign aimed to reach younger voters.
Similarinception, genesis, creation, formation, origination
Note
Every meaning of the word goes back to Latin conceptiō, which already covered both "a comprehending" and "a becoming pregnant", from concipiō, "to conceive". English kept that double life: the same noun names an idea taking shape and a life beginning. Formally it is just conceive plus -tion, so it pairs naturally with the verb. To conceive a plan is to carry out its conception.
6
nouncountable or uncountable
The state of being conceived; the point at which something first comes into being.
The festival has grown enormously since its conception a decade ago.
Critics attacked the policy from its very conception.
Similarinception, beginning, outset, birth, founding
7
noununcountable
The formation of a conceptus, or of an embryo that has implanted in the uterus.
Embryologists may locate conception at the point of successful implantation.
Adequate progesterone supports conception by maintaining the uterine lining for implantation.
Note
Here the line is drawn later than fertilization: at the formation of a conceptus, or once the embryo has implanted. The choice matters. Treating conception as the meeting of sperm and ovum or as this later stage moves the point at which a pregnancy is said to begin. For that reason, medical and legal writing often states which one it intends.

Practice

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Origin

This word came through Middle English concepcioun from Old French conception, from Latin conceptiō (meaning a comprehending, a collection, an expression, and also a becoming pregnant), based on concipiō, past participle conceptus, 'to conceive'. It is equivalent to conceive plus -tion.