conceive Look up conceive at Dictionary.com
late 13c., from stem of O.Fr. conceveir, from L. concipere (pp. conceptus) "to take in and hold," from com- intensive prefix + comb. form of capere "to take," from PIE *kap- "to grasp" (see capable). Originally "take (seed) into the womb, become pregnant;" sense of "take into the mind" is from mid-14c.