▪ I. conceit, n.
(kənˈsiːt)
Forms: α. 4–8 conceipt(e; β. 4–7 conceyt(e, 5–7 -ceite, 6–7 -ceat(e, (7 -ceit), 5– conceit; γ. 4–6 conseyt(e, -seit(e, (5 -sceyt(e), 5–6 -sayte, 6 consate, Sc. -sait(e, (-saight, -sette), 7 Sc. -seate.
[To this there appears to be no corresp. OF. word, so that it would seem that conceit was formed in Eng. from conceive, on the analogy supplied by deceive, deceit (OF. deceite, -cyte, -cite, Anglo-F. des{cced}ait (in Langtoft):—L. type decepta), receive, receipt (OF. receite, re{cced}oite, F. † recepte, recette:—L. recepta). It. concetto (:—L. concept-us a conceiving) was evidently the source of some of the later senses.]
I. Conception; conceiving and its product.
† 1. That which is conceived in the mind, a conception, notion, idea, thought; device. Obs.
| c 1374 Chaucer Troylus i. 692 For-þi wolde I fayn remeue Thy wrong conceyte. Ibid. iii. 755 Allas conseytes wronge What harm þey don. 1388 Wyclif Ecclus. xxxii. 16 Do thi conseitis (That is, parforme thi good purpos conseyued there). 1393 Gower Conf. III. 137 Whan the word to the conceipt Descordeth. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 89 Conceyte, conceptus. 1519 Interl. Four Elements in Hazl. Dodsley I. 7 Every man after his fantasy Will write his conceit. 1549 Compl. Scot. Ded. Ep. 6 Ane temerare consait. 1596 Spenser State Irel. 1 But a vaine conceipt of simple men. 1639 Fuller Holy War i. vi. (1840) 8 Fluent in language to express their conceits. 1703 W. Dampier Voy. III. 88 Being thus possess'd with a Conceit that we could not Sail from hence till September. |
† b. Const. of. Obs.
| 1432 Paston Lett. No. 18 I. 33 The king is growen..in conceite and knowleche of his hiegh..estat. 1631 Gouge God's Arrows ii. §6. 141 Soothing of people with conceipt of plenty. 1644 Power Exp. Philos. i. 37 Dr. Brown hath ranked this conceit of the Eyes of a Snail amongst the Vulgar errours of the multitude. 1823 Lamb Elia Ser. ii. viii. (1865) 288 A glimmering conceit of some such thing. |
† c. Used in the logical senses of concept. Obs.
| 1588 Fraunce Lawyer's Logike 92 Every conceipt of the mind is determinatly eyther generall or speciall, and speciall eyther particular or singular. Ibid. 87. 1654 Z. Coke Logike, As the word man is [used] to express primarily the conceit which we form of human nature. Ibid. 11. 1665 Glanvill Scepsis Sci. xxvi, 'Tis more then any man can determine, whether his conceit of what he calls white, be the same with anothers. 1668 Wilkins Real Char. 20 That conceit which men have in their minds concerning a Horse..is the Notion or mental Image of that Beast. |
† d. Conception, signification, meaning. Obs.
| 1659 Instruct. Oratory 71 Eastern-tongues use..reduplication onely for the more..gravity, without varying at all the conceit. 1674 Playford Skill Mus. i. xi. 40 Understanding of the Conceit and the humour of the words. |
† 2. The faculty of conceiving; conception, apprehension, understanding. Obs.
| c 1450 Why I can't be a Nun 336 in E.E.P. (1862) 147 Sum man wolde say, And to hys conceyte so hyt schulde seme, That I forsoke sone a perfyte way. a 1580 Sidney (J.), I not looking for such a matter, had not my conceit open to understand them. 1597 Morley Introd. Mus. 117 You haue a good master and a quicke conceit. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. v. ii. 48, I know you are a Gentleman of good conceit. 1658 Whole Duty Man i. §11 (1684) 2 Excellent, beyond all that our wit or conceit can imagine. 1805 Wordsw. Waggoner i. 91 His own conceit the figure planned. |
† b. Capacity (mental). Obs.
| 1560 Rolland Crt. Venus iv. 652 Thame to rehers it excedis my consait. 1613 R. C. Table Alph. (ed. 3), Capacitie, largenesse of a place, conceit or receit. |
† c. ? Frame of mind, disposition. Obs.
| 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas. ii. ii., Theyr lye in wayte Gyauntes great..that all devoureth by theyr yll conceyte. |
† 3. The process or action of conceiving; conception. Obs.
| 1594 Drayton Idea 860 Wise in Conceit, in Act a very sot. 1709 Strype Ann. Ref. I. xlvii. 510 The Earl of Murray had departed lately from the Scotch Court, upon conceit of that Queen's love to the Lord Darnley. |
II. Personal or private opinion.
† 4. Personal opinion, judgement, or estimation, usually ‘in a neutral sense’ (J.), as in my conceit, in my opinion or conception of the case. Obs.
| c 1386 Chaucer Can. Yeom. Prol. & T. 661 Ye schul have no mysbileeve Ne wrong conceyt of me in youre absence. c 1440 Generydes 4739 A litill dogge..In here conseite a grete Iewell it was. 1448 R. Fox Chron. (Camden Soc.) 114 The seyde duke stoode in gode conseyte of the peple. 1549 Compl. Scot. Prol. 11 Ve sal fynd amang ane thousand men, ane thousand consaitis. 1551 Robinson tr. More's Utop. ii. (Arb.) 127 Comelinesse of bewtye doethe..auaunce the wiues in the conceite of their husbandes. 1633 Bp. Hall Hard Texts N.T. 61 Herod had an awfull and reverent conceit of John. 1658 Whole Duty Man xiii. §11 (1684) 100 Willing to lay down ill conceits of their neighbours. 1759 Franklin Ess. Wks. 1840 III. 369 A remonstrance..containing a submissive conceit, that one hundred thousand pounds..would answer. |
† b. of oneself, one's own opinions, etc., with qualifying adjs. bad, good, etc. Obs. See also self-conceit, orig. ‘self-conceived opinion’. (Cf. 5 b.)
| 1581 J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 136 Vayne conceipte of his own opinion. 1603 Holland Plutarch's Mor. 84 To confirme that good selfe-conceit and opinion of his owne. a 1677 Barrow Serm. (1683) II. i. 11 Every man is unwilling to entertain a bad conceit of himself. a 1716 Bp. O. Blackall Wks. (1723) I. 9 Such as have a mean and low Conceit of themselves. 1788 Burns Let. to Clarinda 7 Mar., Lord, send us a gude conceit o' oursel'! |
c. in one's own conceit: in one's own private opinion, estimation, or judgement: now coloured by sense 6.
| 1482 Monk of Evesham (Arb.) 63 Thys clerke..was wise and wyttye in hys owne conceyte. 1535 Coverdale Rom. xii. 16 Be not proude in youre awne consaytes [Cranm. & Geneva opinions; Rheims conceite; 1611, 1881 conceits]. 1535 Joye Apol. Tindale 5 Standing to miche in our own consaightis. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 734 He imagined in his awne conceipt, that this request would be made. a 1670 Hacket Abp. Williams i. (1692) 176 By falling down in your own conceipt, you are mounted higher in the opinion of all others. a 1704 T. Brown Praise Drunk. Wks. 1730 I. 36 A drunkard does..fancy himself a king in his own conceit. |
5. Favourable opinion, esteem; = good conceit in 4. Now dial. exc. in out of conceit with, dissatisfied with, no longer pleased with.
| 1462 Paston Lett. No. 445 II. 96 John Fermour..stondyth out of the conceyte of much peple. 1480 Robt. Devyll in Thoms Prose Rom. (1858) I. 50 Ye be in grace and conceyte with Almyghty God. 1514 Barclay Cyt. & Uplondyshm. (Percy Soc.) p. xliii, Thou mayst suspect..Him more in favour and in conceipt then thou. c 1590 Greene Fr. Bacon Wks. (1861) 173 Europes conceit of Bacon hath an end. 1651 Life Father Sarpi (1676) 89 With all the Grandees..he was in the greatest conceipt that any private person could obtain. 1687 Congreve Old Bach. i. iv, What fine lady hast thou been putting out of conceit with herself. 1788 Franklin Autobiog. Wks. 1840 I. 192 Enough to put us out of conceit of such defenders. 1838 J. H. Newman Par. Serm. IV. x. 184 To be out of conceit with our lot in life. 1879 G. F. Jackson Shropsh. Word-bk., I hanna much consait of 'er [i.e. I don't think much of her]. |
b. of oneself, or one's qualities. Cf. self-conceit.
| 1581 J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 499 b, Blynded with selfe love..swallowed upp with his owne conceipt. 1597 Morley Introd. Mus. 87 Conceit of their own sufficiencie hath ouerthrowne many. 1598 Barnfield Compl. Poetrie xix, The flattring Glasse of Pride, and Self-conceit. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. I. ii. iv. iv, They..possessed the poor man with a conceipt of his excellent Poetry. 1674 tr. Scheffer's Lapland xv. 77 That man that is skilled in these tongues hath not little conceit of himself. 1776 Adam Smith W.N. (1869) II. ii. 422 The landlord's conceit of his own superior knowledge. 1830 Cunningham Brit. Paint. II. 227 With..a large conceit of himself. |
6. An overweening opinion of oneself; overestimation of one's own qualities, personal vanity or pride; conceitedness. App. short for prec. or for self-conceit.
| 1605 Bp. Hall Medit. & Vows i. §96 The proude man, though hee be empty of good substance, yet he is full of conceite. 1836 Hor. Smith Tin Trump. (1876) 100 Conceit—taking ourselves at our own valuation generally about fifty per cent. above the fair worth. 1845 Ford Handbk. Spain i. 50 It takes the conceit out of a man. 1858 O. W. Holmes Aut. Breakf.-t. i. 4 Conceit..is to human character what salt is to the ocean; it keeps it sweet, and renders it endurable. |
III. Fancy; fanciful opinion, action, or production.
7. A fanciful notion; a fancy, a whim.
| 1530 Palsgr. 207/2 Conceyte, fantaisie. [1549 Compl. Scot. i. 22 Fortune is..ane vane consait ymaginet in the hartis of onfaythtful men.] 1611 Dekker Roaring Girle Wks. 1873 III. 195 Some haue a conceit their drink tasts better In an outlandish cup then in our owne. 1681 W. Robertson Phraseol. Gen. (1693) 365 A conceit or fancy, imaginatio. a 1714 Burnet Own Time (1823) I. 425 As the conceit took her, she made him fall out with all his friends, one after another. 1848–76 Mill Pol. Econ. Prelim. Rem. 2 The conceit seems too preposterous to be thought of as a serious opinion. |
b. (without pl.) Fancy, imagination, as an attribute or faculty.
| 1578 Banister Hist. Man viii. 102 When reason should giue iudgement, conceyt standeth in the light. 1581 Sidney Apol. Poetrie (Arb.) 23 That high flying liberty of conceit proper to the Poet. 1590 Greene Orl. Fur. Wks. (1861) 94 In conceit build castles in the sky. 1622 R. Hawkins Voy. S. Sea (1847) 57 The cause of this sicknes some attribute to sloath; some to conceite. 1740 Somerville Hobbinol iii. 244 In Conceit Already grasp the warm-contested Prize. 1874 Dixon Two Queens xvii. viii, The name of Anna tickled his conceit. |
8. A fanciful, ingenious, or witty notion or expression; now applied disparagingly to a strained or far-fetched turn of thought, figure, etc., an affectation of thought or style; = concetto.
| 1513 Douglas æneis i. Prol. 344 Als oft as ȝe him reid..Ȝe fynd ilk tyme sum merye new consait. 1581 J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 264 How..our toung may be framed to pretie conceiptes. 1633 Treas. Hid. Secrets Pref., Some rare conceits not before published. 1653 Walton Angler 46 Most of his conceits were either Scripture-jests, or lascivious jests; for which I count no man witty. 1751 Johnson Rambler No. 141 ¶10 Sometimes I drew the conversation up..to a proper point, and produced a conceit which I had treasured up. 1785 Reid Int. Powers ii. x. 287 His style is disagreeable being full of Conceits. 1838–9 Hallam Hist. Lit. III. v. iii. §5. 229 Extravagant metaphors..and conceits on equivocal words are very frequent in the Adone. 1873 Symonds Grk. Poets x. 324 The Greeks had no conceits: they did not call the waves ‘nodding hearse-plumes’..or laburnums ‘dropping wells of fire’. 1888 Spectator 30 June 907/2 The Seventeenth Century, when the sweetness of song, is for the most part lost in its conceits. |
b. A fanciful action, practice, etc.; a trick.
| c 1520 Vergilius in Thoms Prose Rom. (1858) II. 59 The lyfe of Vergilius with many dyuers consaytes that he dyd. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 719 A pretie conceyt that happened in this gathering. 1579 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 67 Practise some pleasant conceipt vpon thy poore patient. 1644 Bulwer Chirol. 1 Declarative conceits of Gesture. 1728 Young Love Fame i. 186 Men, overloaded with a large estate, May spill their treasure in a nice conceit. 1874 Green Short Hist. v. 214 Religious enthusiasm had degenerated into the pretty conceits of Mariolatry. |
c. (without pl.) The use of conceits as a quality of literary taste or style; ‘sentiment, as distinguished from imagery’ (J.).
| 1589 Nashe in Green's Menaph. Ded. (Arb.) 8 Oft haue I obserued..a secular wit..to bee more iudiciall in matters of conceit, then our quadrant crepundios. 1709 Pope Ess. Crit. 291 Some to conceit alone their taste confine. a 1763 Shenstone Ess. 227 Conceit is false taste, and very widely different from no taste at all. 1838–9 Hallam Hist. Lit. IV. v. iv. §53 A tendency to conceit is perceived in Rapin. |
d. ‘Gaiety of imagination’ (J.), wit.
| 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, ii. iv. 263 His Wit is as thicke as Tewksburie Mustard: there is no more conceit in him, than is in a Mallet. 1751 Johnson Rambler No. 141 ¶7 Sudden scintillations of conceit. |
† 9. concr. A fancy article. Obs.
| 1463 Bury Wills (1850) 25 Steyned clothes w{supt} ymages, and othir consceytes longyng to the seid place. 1538 Starkey England i. iii. 80 Marchantys wych cary out thyngys necessary..and bryng in agayn vayn tryfullys and conceytes. 1577–87 Holinshed Chron. I. 33/1 Ouches, or ear-rings, and other conceits made of amber. 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. i. i. 33. 1640–4 Lond. Petit. in Rushw. Hist. Coll. (1692) iii. I. 95 The turning of the Communion Table Altar-wise, setting Images, Crucifixes, and Conceits over them, and Tapers and Books upon them. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 59 ¶5 To blemish his excellent Plan with so poor a Conceit. 1823 F. Cooper Pioneer vii, A small basket of the ash-wood slips, coloured in divers fantastical conceits. |
† b. A fancy trifle for the table; kickshaws.
| 1525 Ld. Berners Froiss. II. xxvi. 72 He wolde gladlye se conseytes and fantesies at his table. a 1554 Rhodes Bk. Nurture in Babees Bk. 68 If your Mayster will haue any conceites after dinner, as appels, Nuts, or creame. 1582 Munday in Harl. Misc. (Malh.) II. 182 The..last is sometime cheese, sometime preserued conceites. 1608 R. Armin Nest Ninn. (1842) 21 Mingling a conceit with butter. |
c. Of a person: An oddity. Sc.
| 1878 W. Miller Wonderfu' Wean in Whistle-Binkie II. 317 (Supp.), He was sic a conceit—sic an ancient-like wean. |
IV. † 10. Conception of offspring. Obs.
| 1589 Pasquil's Ret. D iij, The myncing Dame[s] conceipt was so quick, that shee caught a childe whilst her husbande was from her. [Perhaps only a pun.] |
† 11. A (morbid) affection or seizure of the body or mind: see conceive v. 5; esp. in phrase to take a conceipt: to become affected, to sicken, etc.
| 1568 R. Grafton Chron. Hen. IV, II. 433 When newes of this..was shewed to his father, he tooke such an inward conceipt, that it cost him his lyfe. 1603 Florio Montaigne iii. iv. (1632) 469 The Conceipt of the stone..hath..so stopped my urine. 1622 Peacham Compl. Gent. xi. (1634) 101 He found the affection of the Pope so estranged from him, that hereupon hee tooke a conceipt and dyed. |
V. 12. attrib. and Comb., as conceit-net (Sc.), a kind of fishing net fixed by poles and including a portion of a tidal river or bay.
| 1805 State, Leslie of Powis, etc. 78 (Jam.) Whether the feith-nets, and conceit-net, and yare-net, are stent-nets? ― Ibid. 109 The conceit-net is thirty fathoms in length, and two and one-half fathoms in depth. |
▪ II. conceit, v.
(kənˈsiːt)
Forms: see prec.
[f. conceit n.]
† 1. trans. To take into the mind, apprehend, form a conception or notion of (some objective fact). Obs. Cf. conceive 8, 9.
| 1557 Earl of Shrewsbury in Lodge Illustr. Brit. Hist. (1791) I. 285 The Scotts begyne allredye to conceyte a brute of an armye. 1589 Greene Menaph. (Arb.) 24 Thou..conceiptist the Astronomicall motions of the heavens. 1593 ― Vision Wks. (1882) XII. 197 Yet I could not but conceit it hardly, and so in a discontented humor I sat me down vpon my bed-side. 1597 Daniel Civ. Wares i. lx, And to the king the whole discourse relate: who not conceipting it as it was told, etc. 1601 Shakes. Jul. C. i. iii. 162 Him, and his worth, and our great need of him, You haue right well conceited. 1602 Marston Ant. & Mel. Induct., A part..which I have neither able apprehension to conceipt, nor what I conceipt gratious abilitie to utter. |
2. To imagine, fancy, think. Cf. conceive 11.
| 1600 Heywood 2nd Pt. Edw. IV, Wks. 1874 I. 151 How can ye once conceit so base a thing? 1633 G. Herbert Temple, Faith ii, I did conceit a most delicious feast. 1655–60 Stanley Hist. Philos. (1701) 556/1 Body is understood by conceiting a certain vast heap of Magnitude. 1847 De Quincey Conversation Wks. XIV. 167 Whatever France may conceit of herself. 1879 G. F. Jackson Shropsh. Word-bk., ‘Mother..think I shall 'ave 'em [measles]? Dunna yo' go to consait 'em; think nuthin' about it’. |
b. with obj. and inf. compl. Now only in to conceit oneself (to be) something.
| 1601 Shakes. Jul. C. iii. i. 192 One of two bad wayes you must conceit me, Either a coward, or a Flatterer. 1626 R. Bernard Isle of Man (1627) 141 He having conceited himselfe to be free. 1658 W. Burton Itin. Anton. 188 Antiquity conceited this Sea most dangerous. 1695 Tryon Dreams & Vis. vi. 85 Things which they conceit to be Innocent and Indiferent. 1728 Pope Dunc. iii. 184 note, Let not this name.. be conceited to mean the learned Olaus Wormius. 1816 Southey in Q. Rev. 337 Alfieri began to conceit himself already a poet. 1878 Seeley Stein III. 565 Conceiting himself to be made of better clay than other men. |
c. with obj. clause. Now chiefly dial.
| 1606 G. W[oodcocke] tr. Hist. Ivstine 4 b. 1611 Bible Transl. Pref. 1 If any man conceit that this is the lot and portion of the meane sort onely. 1642 Perkins Prof. Bk. i. §37. 17, I conceit such grant is good. 1684 Bunyan Pilgr. ii. 141, I conceited he should not kill me. 1772 Priestley Inst. Relig. (1782) I. 322 Arts of sorcery which they conceit that he learned in Egypt. 1823 De Quincey King of Hayti Wks. XII. 68 Never conceit that I shall lend any the more countenance..to your connection. [1876 Whitby Gloss., ‘I consate you'll be frae Lunnun’. 1877 in Holderness Gloss. 1878 Cumbrld. Gloss., ‘I consate you're a stranger here-away’. 1881 Leicestersh. Word-bk., ‘Ah consate it war’, i.e. I think it was.] |
† 3. intr. To form a conception, think, conceive. Const. of (on), subord. clause. ? Obs.
| 1599 Warn. Faire Wom. i. 581 You shall do me wrong If otherwise you do conceit of me. 1601 R. Johnson Kingd. & Commw. 166 The Italians conceiting marueilous highly of themselues. 1604 Shakes. Oth. iii. iii. 149 One, that so imperfectly conceits [Qq. conjects]. 1614 T. Adams Devil's Banquet 308 So Hierome conceiteth on those words. 1667 E. Chamberlayne St. Gt. Brit. i. iii. x. (1743) 256 The sword of St. Paul, not the dagger of William Walworth, as some have conceited. 1669 Gale Crt. Gentiles i. ii. viii. 126 The Laurel was..that with which, they conceited, he crowned his head. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth xvi, Another strain of minstrelsy, and, as the Bonnet-maker conceited, one which approached much nearer. |
4. trans. To fill or inspire with a conceit or fancy.
| 1587 Greene Euphues Wks. (1882) VI. 233 Whose dreames were but sweete slumbers conceipted by imagination of the beauty of his Polixena. 1590 ― Orl. Fur. Wks. (1861) 96 To plague the Palatine with jealousy, And to conceit him with some deep extreme. 1876 Blackie Songs Relig. & L. 227 Pert witlings fling crude fancies round As wanton whim conceits them. |
b. refl. (cf. self-conceit).
| 1809 J. Black tr. Schlegel's Lect. Dram. Art & Lit. iii. (1876) 50 Conceiting themselves that they have far surpassed the ancients. 1829 Sir W. Hamilton Discuss. (1853) 21 We..conceit ourselves that we contemplate absolute existence. 1873 F. Hall Mod. English 18 To conceit ourselves that our progeny will be satisfied with our English. |
5. To have a good conceit of, to take a fancy to, ‘fancy’. Now dial.
| 1589 Greene Tullies Love Wks. 1882 VII. 154 [Lentulus] both conceited the methode, and allowed of the manner. 1602 Warner Alb. Eng. ix. xliv. (1612) 209 Yea that conceit such Poemes as more learned not conceaue, Reade not the rest. 1706 De Foe Jure Div. Introd. 2 The strong unbounded Lust of Sov'reign Rule, Makes him conceit the Prince, forget the Fool. 1786 A. M. Bennett Juv. Indiscr. iii. 107, I should never conceit a dress that had not afforded the poor devils a few yards for themselves. 1830 Lamb Pawnbroker's D. in Blackw. Mag. XXVII. 97 That gentlewoman might conceit a favourite chemise that had descended to her. 1832 Miss Mitford Village Ser. v. (1863) 365, I shall never conceit the sight of a perch again. 1876 Mid-Yorksh. Gloss., ‘I can't consate that man's face, somehow’. |
† 6. To conceive as a purpose or design; = conceive 7. Obs.
| 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 139 Othoman..began now..to conceit greater matters, for the further increase of his honor. 1614 Cornwallis in Gutch Coll. Cur. I. 166 What I had conceited to speak in Parliament. 1638 Heywood Wise Wom. ii. i. Wks. 1874 V. 297, I have conceited, to have Luce married to this blunt Gentleman. |
† 7. To conceive (hope, a liking, etc.); = conceive 6. Obs.
| a 1641 Secr. Mem. Earl of Leicester (1706) 175, I conceited hope that he might..become in time an honorable..neighbour. |
Hence conˈceiting vbl. n.
| 1641 Milton Ch. Discip. 1 From her perverse conceiting of God and holy things, she had fallen to believe no God at all. 1644 Digby Nat. Bodies i. (1658) 3 Our unwary conceiting that things are in their own natures after the same fashion as we consider them in our understanding. |