conceit en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /kənˈsiːt/
- (UK) audio
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱe? Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm Proto-Italic *kom Proto-Italic *kom- Latin con- substratebor.? Proto-Indo-European *kap- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *kapyéti Proto-Italic *kapjō Archaic Latin kapiō Latin capiō ▲ Ancient Greek σῠλλᾰμβᾰ́νω (sŭllămbắnō)calq. Latin concipiō Old French concevoirbor. Middle English conceyven Middle English conceyte English conceit From Middle English conceyte, formed from conceyven by analogy with pairs such as (Modern English) deceive~deceit, receive~receipt etc. Doublet of concept and concetto. Akin to Portuguese conceito.
Meanings
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(countable, obsolete, uncountable) Something conceived in the mind; an idea, a thought.
a man wise in his own conceit
1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 26:12:It was after a night like this that I shocked the community with a queer conceit about the burial of the rich and celebrated Squire Brewster […]
1922, H. P. Lovecraft, “The Tomb”, in The Vagrant:In laughing, there ever procedeth a conceit of somewhat ridiculous.
1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “(please specify the page, or |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC:
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(countable, uncountable) The faculty of conceiving ideas; mental faculty; apprehension.
a man of quick conceit
How often, alas! did her eyes say unto me that they loved! and yet I, not looking for such a matter, had not my conceit open to understand them.
a. 1587, Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “(please specify the folio)”, in [Fulke Greville; Matthew Gwinne; John Florio], editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New Arcadia], London: […] [John Windet] for William Ponsonbie, published 1590, →OCLC:
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(countable, uncountable) Quickness of apprehension; active imagination; lively fancy.
His wit's as thick as Tewksbury mustard; there is no more conceit in him than is in a mallet.
c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]. Epilogue.”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iv]:
- (countable, obsolete, uncountable) Opinion, (neutral) judgment.
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(archaic, countable, dialectal, uncountable) Esteem, favourable opinion.
By him that me boughte, than quod Dysdayne, / I wonder sore he is in suche cenceyte.
1499, John Skelton, The Bowge of Courte:[G]ive him thy thanks for putting her into conceit with the sex that thou hast given her so much reason to execrate.
1748, [Samuel Richardson], “Letter CCCXLV”, in Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to VII), London: […] S[amuel] Richardson; [a]nd sold by John Osborn, […], →OCLC:
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(countable) A novel or fanciful idea; a whim.
On his way to the gibbet, a freak took him in the head to go off with a conceit.
1692, Roger L’Estrange, “ (please specify the fable number.) (please specify the name of the fable.)”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […], →OCLC:By reason of these things, then, the whaling voyage was welcome; the great flood-gates of the wonder-world swung open, and in the wild conceits that swayed me to my purpose, two and two there floated into my inmost soul, endless processions of the whale, and, mid most of them all, one grand hooded phantom, like a snow hill in the air.
1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 1, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 7:Some to conceit alone their works confine, / And glitt'ring thoughts struck out at ev'ry line.
1711 May, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Criticism, London: […] W[illiam] Lewis […]; and sold by W[illiam] Taylor […], T[homas] Osborn[e] […], and J[ohn] Graves […], →OCLC:The book's main conceit is to make poetry from univocal words (words containing just one vowel) […]
2012, Lauren Elkin, Scott Esposito, The End of Oulipo?: An attempt to exhaust a movement:Tasso[…] is full of conceits […] which are not only below the dignity of heroic verse but contrary to its nature.
1693, John Dryden, An Essay on Satire:
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(countable, rhetoric) An ingenious expression or metaphorical idea, especially in extended form or used as a literary or rhetorical device.
Jones and Palin wrote and starred in The Complete and Utter History of Britain (1969) for LWT. Its conceit was to relate historical incidents as if TV had existed at the time.
2020 January 22, Stuart Jeffries, “Terry Jones obituary”, in The Guardian:In the next and final stanza, Donne expands the conceit of world exploration to present us with a further distinction between the spirituality of the lovers and the “map reader” and “sea-discoverers.”
2009, Harold Bloom, John Donne, Infobase Publishing, →ISBN, page 16:The “cyberspace” conceit allows him to dramatize computer hacking in nontechnical language, although I wonder how much his somewhat florid descriptions of the “bodiless exultation of cyberspace” will mean to readers who have not experienced the illusion of power that punching the keyboard of even a dinky little word-processor can give.
1985 November 24, Gerald Jonas, “Science Fiction”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
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(uncountable) Overly high self-esteem; vain pride; hubris.
Plum'd with conceit he calls aloud.
1826, Nathaniel Cotton, Fables:
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(countable, uncountable) Design; pattern.
And yet I know not how conceit may rob the treasury of life when life itself yields to the theft;
c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene vi]:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| conceipt | alternative, obsolete | lexicographic | |
| conceits | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Coordinates
Deriveds
self-conceit · conceitful · out of conceit with · conceited · conceitedness · conceitless · misconceit · unconceit · conceitedly · preconceit
Translations (75)
de Eingebildetheit (overly high self-esteem) · sh ùmišljenōst (overly high self-esteem) · ru го́нор (overly high self-esteem) · vi ngã mạn (overly high self-esteem) · ru самомне́ние (overly high self-esteem) · es idea (ingenious expression or metaphorical idea) · he התנפחות (overly high self-esteem) · hu önhittség (overly high self-esteem) · de Selbstgefälligkeit (overly high self-esteem) · hu önelégültség (overly high self-esteem) · es vanidad (overly high self-esteem) · ro vanitate (overly high self-esteem) · mi whakahīhī (overly high self-esteem) · hu önteltség (overly high self-esteem) · fr orgueil (overly high self-esteem) · cs přirovnání (ingenious expression or metaphorical idea as a literary device) · es concepto (ingenious expression or metaphorical idea) · ru тщесла́вие (overly high self-esteem) · ga ainionadh (overly high self-esteem) · es engreimiento (overly high self-esteem) · nl ijdelheid (overly high self-esteem) · cs nafoukanost (overly high self-esteem) · ota غرور (overly high self-esteem) · nl hoogmoed (overly high self-esteem) · de Einbildung (overly high self-esteem) · ru самонаде́янность (overly high self-esteem) · grc φύσημα (overly high self-esteem) · ru изощрённая мета́фора и́ли сравне́ние (ingenious expression or metaphorical idea as a literary device) · sh у̀мишљено̄ст (overly high self-esteem) · sv fåfänga (overly high self-esteem) · ru чва́нство (overly high self-esteem) · de Dünkel (overly high self-esteem) · lv uzpūtīgums (overly high self-esteem) · cmn 自負 /自负 (overly high self-esteem) · de Eigendünkel (overly high self-esteem) · el ματαιοδοξία (overly high self-esteem) · ga postúlacht (overly high self-esteem) · de Arroganz (overly high self-esteem) · ro trufie (overly high self-esteem) · it vanità (overly high self-esteem) · pt vaidade (overly high self-esteem) · ota كبر (overly high self-esteem) · lv iedomība (overly high self-esteem) · cs domýšlivost (overly high self-esteem) · pt presunção (overly high self-esteem) · it presunzione (overly high self-esteem) · ja 自惚れ (overly high self-esteem) · sw kiburi (overly high self-esteem) · lv uzpūtība (overly high self-esteem) · de Krattel (overly high self-esteem) · ja うぬぼれ (overly high self-esteem) · es concepción (ingenious expression or metaphorical idea) · ga consaeit (overly high self-esteem) · hu könnyed (ingenious expression or metaphorical idea as a literary device) · cs namyšlenost (overly high self-esteem) · nl verwaandheid (overly high self-esteem) · cs metafora (ingenious expression or metaphorical idea as a literary device) · es ego (overly high self-esteem) · de Süffisanz (overly high self-esteem) · bg самонаде́яност (overly high self-esteem) · es presunción (overly high self-esteem) · cs ješitnost (overly high self-esteem) · fr vanité (overly high self-esteem) · fi itserakkaus (overly high self-esteem) · de Concetto (ingenious expression or metaphorical idea as a literary device) · de Konzept (ingenious expression or metaphorical idea as a literary device) · hu szellemes hasonlat (ingenious expression or metaphorical idea as a literary device) · ota طور (overly high self-esteem) · hy ինքնահավանություն (overly high self-esteem) · de Eingebung (ingenious expression or metaphorical idea) · hu beképzeltség (overly high self-esteem) · fi omahyväisyys (overly high self-esteem) · txb śāmpa (overly high self-esteem) · ga anbharúil (overly high self-esteem) · de Einfall (ingenious expression or metaphorical idea)