Concept Meaning
/ˈkɒn.sɛpt/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounAn abstract and general idea; an abstraction.
nounUnderstanding retained in the mind, from experience, reasoning and imagination; a generalization (generic, basic form), or abstraction (mental impression), of a particular set of instances or occurrences (specific, though different, recorded manifestations of the concept).
Sentence Examples
To him, hunger was an abstract concept; he always had enough to eat.
The concept is quite alien to our way of thinking.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
His ____ of justice includes fairness for all social classes.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The basic ____ of gravity is relatively easy to understand.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree Latin conceptusder. Middle French conceptbor. English concept Borrowed from Middle French concept, from Latin conceptus (“a thought, purpose, also a conceiving, etc.”), from concipiō (“to take in, conceive”). Doublet of conceit and concetto. See conceive.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The words conception, concept, notion, should be limited to the thought of what can not be represented in the imagination; as, the thought suggested by a general term."
— 1855, Thomas Reid, Sir W. Hamilton, James Walker, “Essay IV. Of Conception”, in Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man:
"Frege's concepts are very nearly propositional functions in the modern sense. Frege explicitly recognizes them as functions. Like Peirce's rhema, a concept is unsaturated. They are in some sense incomplete. Although Frege never gets beyond the metaphorical in his description of the incompleteness of concepts and other functions, one thing is clear: the distinction between objects and functions is the main division in his metaphysics. There is something special about functions that makes them very different from objects."
— 2011 July 20, Edwin Mares, “Propositional Functions”, in The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, retrieved 15 Jul 2012:
"Few concepts are as emotionally charged as that of race. The word conjures up a mixture of associations—culture, ethnicity, genetics, subjugation, exclusion and persecution. But is the tragic history of efforts to define groups of people by race really a matter of the misuse of science, the abuse of a valid biological concept?"
— 2012 March-April, Jan Sapp, “Race Finished”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, archived from the original on 05 Sep 2015, page 164:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
His ____ of justice includes fairness for all social classes.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The basic ____ of gravity is relatively easy to understand.