Conceive, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Conceived; p. pr. & vb. n. Conceiving.]
Etymology: [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.
1 other Webster entry under this spelling
Conceive, 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.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for conceive; he lists it under perceive.
Where he writes about it:
That which we apprehend we catch, as with the hand; that which we conceive we are able to analyze and recompose in our mind; that which we comprehend, we, as it were, grasp around, take together, seize, embrace wholly within the mind. — from perceive
We can apprehend the will of God as revealed in conscience or the Scriptures; we can conceive of certain attributes of Deity, as his truth and justice; but no finite intelligence can comprehend the Divine Nature, in its majesty, power, and perfection. — from perceive