different between conceive vs preconceive

English

Alternative forms

• conceave (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English conceyven, from Old French concevoir, conceveir, from Latin concipi?, concipere (“to take”), from con- (“together”) + capi? (“to take”). Compare deceive, perceive, receive.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k?n?si?v/
• Rhymes: -i?v

Verb

conceive (third-person singular simple present conceives, present participle conceiving, simple past and past participle conceived)

1. (transitive) To develop an idea; to form in the mind; to plan; to devise; to originate.
   • 1606, Antony and Cleopatra, Shakespeare, II-4

     We shall, / As I conceive the journey, be at the Mount / Before you, Lepidus.

   • 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.
2. (transitive) To understand (someone).

   • I conceive you.

   • You will hardly conceive him to have been bred in the same climate.

4. (intransitive or transitive) To become pregnant (with).

   • She hath also conceived a son in her old age.

5. To generate or engender; to bring into being.

Related terms

• conceivable
• conceiver
• concept
• conception

Translations

Further reading

• conceive in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• conceive in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Middle English

Verb

conceive

1. Alternative form of conceyven

English

Etymology

From pre- +? conceive.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -i?v

Verb

preconceive (third-person singular simple present preconceives, present participle preconceiving, simple past and past participle preconceived)

1. To conceive, or form an opinion of, beforehand; to form a previous notion or idea of.

   Synonym: foreconceive