Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Conceive \Con*ceive"\, 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.

            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.