conception

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)The act of conceiving.
2. (countable, uncountable)The state of being conceived; the beginning.
3. (countable, uncountable)The fertilization of an ovum by a sperm to form a zygote.

   “Some powers diuine, or els infernall, mixt Their angry ſeedes at his conception: For he was neuer ſprong of humaine race, Since with the ſpirit of his fearefull pride, He dares so doubtleſly reſolue of rule.”

4. (countable, uncountable)The start of pregnancy.
5. (countable, uncountable)The formation of a conceptus or an implanted embryo.
6. (countable, uncountable)The power or faculty of apprehending of forming an idea in the mind; the power of recalling a past sensation or perception; the ability to form mental abstractions.

   “What the school books say about the united efforts of the two great Rossums is all a fairy tale. They used to have dreadful rows. The old atheist hadn't the slightest conception of industrial matters, and the end of it was that young Rossum shut him up in some laboratory or other and let him fritter the time away with his monstrosities, while he himself started on the business from an engineer's point of view.”

7. (countable, uncountable)An image, idea, or notion formed in the mind; a concept, plan or design.

   “Elegant brick and stone buildings, with iron and glass canopies and decorative wooden scalloping and fencing—all evidencing care on the part of the architect to produce a pleasing, well-planned building—were submerged beneath a profusion of ill-conceived additions and camouflaged by vulgar paint schemes; and the original conception was lost.”

8. (countable, uncountable)Something conceived or designed.

   “The figure was placed on a low pedestal, sufficiently raised from the carpet on four plain wooden legs for all the space underneath to be clearly visible. The body was a squat, cross-legged conception, typical of an Indian deity […]”