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Origin and history of conception

conception(n.)

early 14c., "act of conceiving in the womb," from Old French concepcion (Modern French conception) "conception, grasp, comprehension," from Latin conceptionem (nominative conceptio) "a comprehending, conception," noun of action from past-participle stem of concipere "to take in and hold; become pregnant," from con-, here perhaps an intensive prefix (see con-), + combining form of capere "to take" (from PIE root *kap- "to grasp").

Originally of pregnancy (also with reference to Conception Day in the Church calendar); mental sense of "process of forming concepts, act or power of conceiving in the mind" is from late 14c. Meaning "that which is conceived in the mind" is from 1520s; that of "general notion" is from 1785.

conception

also from early 14c.

Entries linking to conception

conceptual(adj.)

"pertaining to mental conception," 1820 (there is an isolated use from 1662), from Medieval Latin conceptualis, from Latin conceptus "a collecting, gathering, conceiving," past participle of concipere "to take in" (see conceive). Perhaps it emerged to go with the distinctly mental sense of conception, as it seems rarely, if ever, to have been used in the physical sense. Conceptional "pertaining to or having the nature of (physical) conception" is from 1832.

contraception(n.)

"birth control, prevention of conception in the womb," coined 1886 from Latin contra "against" (see contra (prep., adv.)) + ending from conception.

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invention
early 15c., invencioun, "finding or discovering of something," from Old French invencion (13c.) and directly from Latin inventionem (nominative inventio) "faculty of invention," noun of action from past-participle stem of invenire "to come upon, find; find out; invent, discover,
innovation
mid-15c., innovacion, "restoration, renewal," from Late Latin innovationem (nominative innovatio), noun of action from past-participle stem of innovare "to change; to renew," from in- "into" (from PIE root *en "in") + novus "new" (see new). Meaning "a novel change, experimental v
design
late 14c., "to make, shape," ultimately from Latin designare "mark out, point out; devise; choose, designate, appoint," from de "out" (see de-) + signare "to mark," from signum "identifying mark, sign" (see sign (n.)). The Italian verb disegnare in 16c. developed the senses "to c
notion
late 14c., nocioun, "a general concept, conception," from Latin notionem (nominative notio) "concept, conception, idea, notice...Coined by Cicero as a loan-translation of Greek ennoia "act of thinking, notion, conception," or prolepsis "previous notion..., previous conception."...
fancy
That of "a fanciful image or conception" is from 1660s....
suffragette
even mean a sort of suffrage as they mean a sort of leader & of flannel, & therefore tends to vitiate the popular conception...
theory
1590s, "conception, mental scheme," from Late Latin theoria (Jerome), from Greek theōria "contemplation, speculation; a looking...
concoction
1530s, "digestion" (a sense now obsolete), from Latin concoctionem (nominative concoctio) "digestion," noun of action from past participle stem of concoquere "to digest; to boil together, prepare; to consider well," from assimilated form of com "together" (see con-) + coquere "to
abstraction
c. 1400, "a withdrawal from worldly affairs, asceticism," from Old French abstraction (14c.), from Late Latin abstractionem (nominative abstractio), noun of action from past-participle stem of Latin abstrahere "to drag away, detach, pull away, divert;" also figuratively, from ass
division
late 14c., divisioun, "act of separating into parts, portions, or shares; a part separated or distinguished from the rest; state of being at variance in sentiment or interest," from Old French division and directly from Latin divisionem (nominative divisio), noun of action from p

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