|Origin:||conceivre, from Latin concipere 'to take in,
conceive', from com- ( COM-) + capere 'to take'| 1 [intransitive
and transitive] formal to imagine a particular situation or to
think about something in a particular way (cannot) conceive of
(doing) something Many people can't conceive of a dinner without
meat or fish. He could not conceive that anything really serious
could be worrying his friend. conceive what/why/how etc I can
hardly conceive what it must be like here in winter. conceive of
something/somebody as something Language may be conceived of as
a process which arises from social interaction. to think of a
new idea, plan etc and develop it in your mind: Scientists first
conceived the idea of the atomic bomb in the 1930's. 3
[intransitive and transitive]MB to become pregnant: fertility
treatment for women who have difficulty conceiving