CONCEPTION • FREE-TRANSLATOR.COM • Definition of Conception

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/kənsˈɛpʃən/ Listen

noun

Conception n.

1.

The act of conceiving in the womb; the initiation of an embryonic animal life. "I will greaty multiply thy sorrow and thy conception."

2.

The state of being conceived; beginning. "Joy had the like conception in our eyes."

3.

The power or faculty of apprehending of forming an idea in the mind; the power of recalling a past sensation or perception. "Under the article of conception, I shall confine myself to that faculty whose province it is to enable us to form a notion of our past sensations, or of the objects of sense that we have formerly perceived."

4.

The formation in the mind of an image, idea, or notion, apprehension. "Conception consists in a conscious act of the understanding, bringing any given object or impression into the same class with any number of other objects or impression, by means of some character or characters common to them all."

5.

The image, idea, or notion of any action or thing which is formed in the mind; a concept; a notion; a universal; the product of a rational belief or judgment. See Concept. "He (Herodotus) says that the sun draws or attracts the water; a metaphorical term obviously intended to denote some more general and abstract conception than that of the visible operation which the word primarily signifies."

6.

Idea; purpose; design. "Note this dangerous conception."

7.

Conceit; affected sentiment or thought. (Obs.) "He... is full of conceptions, points of epigram, and witticism."

Synonyms: Idea; notion; perception; apprehemsion; comprehension.

See images of 'Conception'

Etymology of 'Conception'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Conception" Quotes from Famous Books

... secret inspiration of du Bousquier the idea of building a theatre had dawned on Alencon. The henchmen of the purveyor did not know their Mohammed; and they thought they were ardent in carrying out their own conception. Athanase Granson was one of the warmest partisans for the theatre; and of late he had urged at the mayor's office a cause which all the other young clerks had ...

— An Old Maid • Honore de Balzac

... alledging that he wanted ear for lyric numbers, and taste for the higher graces of POETRY:—but it is impossible so to believe, when we recollect that even his prose abounds with poetic efflorescence, metaphoric conception, and harmonious cadence, which in the highest degree adorn it, without diminishing its strength. We must look for the source of his injustice in the envy of his temper. When Garrick was named a Candidate for admission into the Literary Club, ...

— Original sonnets on various subjects; and odes paraphrased from Horace • Anna Seward

... thrives, and where the land, well and uniformly watered, contributes in such a high degree to the well-being of man, is flat and monotonous when viewed from the train. We see herds with their mounted herdsmen, we see villages, roads and cottages, but these do not give us any very clear conception of the country. Therefore it is advisable to spend a few hours in the agricultural exhibition at Budapest, where we can see the most attractive models illustrating Hungarian rural life, from pastures and ...

— From Pole to Pole - A Book for Young People • Sven Anders Hedin

... conception of the way in which, under the most adverse circumstances, Madame de Treymes would be likely to occupy her time, that Durham was conscious of a note of ...

— Madame de Treymes • Edith Wharton

... down the long, beautiful distance, the glorious view bounded by the snowy sculptured heights of palaces—long, green, flower-gemmed avenues of beauty—with the blue waters a-shinin' calm behind towerin' statutes of marvellous conception, ...

— Samantha at the World's Fair • Marietta Holley

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