conception
/kənˈsɛpʃən/noun
conception is spelled C-O-N-C-E-P-T-I-O-N: 10 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 5.6 times per million words in written English, the 10,358th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, conception means “The act of conceiving” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of conception is conceptions.
How many letters and syllables are in conception?
| Letters | 10: C-O-N-C-E-P-T-I-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 5.6 times per million words; the 10,358th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is conception?
Conception appears 5.6 times per million words in written English, the 10,358th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce conception?
- US /kənˈsɛpʃən/
- Australia /kənˈsepʃən/
Conception has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-conception.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with conception?
5 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as conception from its last stressed vowel (/ɛpʃən/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of conception
- conceptions plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does conception mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The act of conceiving.
- 2
The state of being conceived; the beginning.
- 3
The fertilization of an ovum by a sperm to form a zygote.
- 4
The start of pregnancy.
- 5
The formation of a conceptus or an implanted embryo.
- 6
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.
- 7
An image, idea, or notion formed in the mind; a concept, plan or design.
- 8
Something conceived or designed.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Conception in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | conception |
| German | Empfängnis , Vorstellung, Konzeption |
| Portuguese | concepção, conceção |
| Spanish | concepción , ideación |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.