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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 (gcide)

Conception \Con*cep"tion\, n. [F. conception, L. conceptio, fr.
concipere to conceive. See {Conceive}.]
1. The act of conceiving in the womb; the initiation of an
embryonic animal life.
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I will greaty multiply thy sorrow and thy
conception. --Gen. iii.
16.
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2. The state of being conceived; beginning.
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Joy had the like conception in our eyes. --Shak.
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3. The power or faculty of apprehending of forming an idea in
the mind; the power of recalling a past sensation or
perception.
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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. --Stewart.
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4. The formation in the mind of an image, idea, or notion,
apprehension.
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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.
--Coleridge.
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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}.
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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. --Whewell.
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6. Idea; purpose; design.
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Note this dangerous conception. --Shak.
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7. Conceit; affected sentiment or thought. [Obs.]
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He . . . is full of conceptions, points of epigram,
and witticism. --Dryden.

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