Meanings
present singular third person incepts · participle present incepting · participle past incepted · past incepted
- UKambitransitiveTo accept or to be accepted to the Master of Arts degree at Oxford or Cambridge University.
- transitiveTo put an idea into a person's mind so deeply that they believe it was their own.
Is the idea really yours? Or was it incepted into your mind by your friend?
Origin
- Latininceptus
- Englishincept
* Originally borrowed from Latin inceptus, past participle of incipio. The term is marked "obsolete" in the first edition of the OED (1905); newer usage is a back-formation from inception. * (put an idea into someone's mind): Inspired by the film Inception (2010).
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian получавам, поемам
- получавам (polučavam)to take in or ingest
- поемам (poemam)to take in or ingest
- начевам (načevam)to begin
Spanish encetar, encentar
- encetarto begin
- encentarto begin
- decentarto begin
- inceptarto put an idea into a person's mind so deeply that they believe it was their own
- incepcionarto put an idea into a person's mind so deeply that they believe it was their own
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
incept. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/incept
“incept.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/incept. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “incept,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/incept.
Source: incept on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.