entry
conceptual
/kənˈsɛptʃuəl/Relating to ideas rather than physical form
From Latin concept (Something conceived).
from Latin conceptus, perfect passive participle of concipiō (“take hold of; conceive”); see concept and -al.
from Medieval Latin conceptuālis
Word Ancestry
from Latin conceptus, perfect passive participle of concipiō (“take hold of; conceive”); see concept and -al.
from Medieval Latin conceptuālis
Before a concept was an idea, it was something you could imagine being physically taken in and held. Latin concipere meant “to take in,” and it could describe both becoming pregnant and forming something in the mind—a wonderfully concrete metaphor for thinking. By the 1550s, English concept had become a term for a general notion, while conceptual arrived through Medieval Latin conceptuālis as the adjective meaning “relating to a concept.” The family also includes conceit and Italian concetto, so an apparently bloodless academic word has theatrical relatives. In conceptual art, the object on the gallery floor may be almost beside the point: the idea is the thing being “conceived.”
The Story
Before a concept was an idea, it was something you could imagine being physically taken in and held. Latin concipere meant “to take in,” and it could describe both becoming pregnant and forming something in the mind—a wonderfully concrete metaphor for thinking. By the 1550s, English concept had become a term for a general notion, while conceptual arrived through Medieval Latin conceptuālis as the adjective meaning “relating to a concept.” The family also includes conceit and Italian concetto, so an apparently bloodless academic word has theatrical relatives. In conceptual art, the object on the gallery floor may be almost beside the point: the idea is the thing being “conceived.”
Kin & Kindred
From 'concept'·Something conceived, especially an idea or general notion
Derived Terms
English words from this root
Sources
Etymonline
Urban Dictionary
Wiktionary