Conceive (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Conceived (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Conceiving.] [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.
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She hath also conceived a son in her old age. Luke i. 36.
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2. To form in the mind; to plan; to devise; to generate; to originate; as, to conceive a purpose, plan, hope.
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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.
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Conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. Is. lix. 13.
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3. To apprehend by reason or imagination; to take into the mind; to know; to imagine; to comprehend; to understand. “I conceive you.” Hawthorne.
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O horror, horror, horror! Tongue nor heart
Cannot conceive nor name thee! Shak.
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You will hardly conceive him to have been bred in the same climate. Swift.

Syn. -- To apprehend; imagine; suppose; understand; comprehend; believe; think.
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