Etymology

conception

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Today it means: The act of conceiving. Full definition →

Middle English concepcioun ← Old French conception ← Latin conceptiō
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*ḱe?
  2. Proto-Indo-European*ḱóm
  3. Proto-Italic*kom
  4. Proto-Italic*kom-
  5. Latincon-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*kap-
  7. Proto-Indo-European*kapyéti
  8. Proto-Italic*kapjō
  9. Latincapiō
  10. Ancient Greekσῠλλᾰμβᾰ́νω (sŭllămbắnō)
  11. Latinconcipiō
  12. Latinconceptiō
  13. Old Frenchconception
  14. Middle Englishconcepcioun
  15. English todayconception

From Middle English concepcioun, borrowed from Old French conception, from Latin conceptiō (“a comprehending, a collection, composition, an expression, also a becoming pregnant”), from concipiō, past participle conceptus (“conceive”); see conceive. Equivalent to conceive + -tion.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.