Emily Dickinson Lexicon

CON-CEIV-ING, n.

Apprehension; conception. Shak.

CON-CEIV'ING, ppr.

Forming a fetus in the womb; framing in the mind; imagining; devising; thinking; comprehending.

CON-CEL'E-BRATE, v.t.

To celebrate together. [Not used.] – Sherwood.

CON-CENT', n. [L. concentus, from concino, to sing in accordance; con and cano, to sing.]

1. Concert of voices; concord of sounds; harmony; as, a concent of notes. – Bacon.
2. Consistency; accordance; as, in concent to a man's own principles. – Atterbury.

CON-CENT'ED, pp. [or participial adj.]

Made to accord. – Spenser.

CON-CEN'TER, v.i. [Fr. concentrer; It. concentrare; Sp. and Port. concentrar; con and L. centrum, a center; Gr. κεντρον, a goad, a sharp point, a center; κεντεω, to prick or goad. The primary sense is a point.]

To come to a point, or to meet in a common center; used of converging lines, or other things that meet in a point. All these are like so many lines drawn from several objects, that in some way relate to him, and concenter in him. – Hale.

CON-CEN'TER, v.t.

To draw or direct to a common center; to bring to a point; as, two or more lines or other things. The having a part less to animate, will serve to concenter the spirits, and make them more active in the rest. Decay of Piety.

CON-CEN'TER-ED, pp.

Brought to a common center; united in a point.

CON-CEN'TER-ING, ppr.

Tending to common center; bringing to a center.

CON-CENT'FUL, a.

Harmonious. – Fotherby.

CON-CEN'TRATE, v.t. [See Concenter.]

1. To bring to a common center, or to a closer union; to cause to approach nearer to a point, or center; to bring nearer to each other; as, to concentrate particles of salt by evaporating the water that holds them in solution; to concentrate the troops in an army; to concentrate rays of light into a focus.
2. To increase the specific gravity of a body.

CON-CEN'TRA-TED, pp.

Brought to a point or center; brought to a closer union; reduced to a narrow compass; collected into a closer body.

CON-CEN'TRA-TING, ppr.

Bringing to a point or to closer union; collecting into a closer body, or narrow compass.

CON-CEN-TRA'TION, n.

The act of concentrating; the act of bringing nearer together; collection into a central point; compression into a narrow space; the state of being brought to a point. Note. The verb concentrate is sometimes accented on the first syllable. The reason is, with the primary accent on the first syllable, and a secondary accent on the third, the pronunciation of the participles, concentrating, concentrated, is much facilitated.

CON-CEN'TRIC, a. [It. concentrico; Fr. concentrique; L. concentricus; con and centrum, center.]

Having a common center; as, the concentric coats of an onion; the concentric orbits of the planets.

CON-CEN-TRIC'I-TY, n.

State of being concentric.

CON-CENT'U-AL, a. [From concent.]

Harmonious; accordant. – Warton.

CON-CEP'TA-CLE, n. [L. conceptaculum; from concipio. See Conceive.]

1. That in which any thing is contained; a vessel; a receiver, or receptacle. – Woodward.
2. In botany, a follicle; a pericarp of one valve, opening longitudinally on one side and having the seeds loose in it. – Martyn.

CON-CEP'TI-BLE, a. [See Conceivable.]

That may be conceived; conceivable; intelligible. [Not used.] – Hale.

CON-CEP'TION, n. [L. conceptio; from concipio. See Conceive. It. concezione; Sp. concepcion; Fr. conception.]

1. The act of conceiving; the first formation of the embryo or fetus of an animal. I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception. Gen. iii
2. The state of being conceived. Joy had the like conception in our eyes. – Shak.
3. In pneumatology, apprehension of any thing by the mind; the act of conceiving in the mind; that mental act or combination of acts by which an idea or notion is formed of an absent object of perception, or of a sensation formerly felt. When we see an object with our eyes open, we have a perception of it; when the same object is presented to the mind with the eyes shut, in idea only or in memory, we have a conception of it. – Kames. Stewart. Encyc.
4. Conception may be sometimes used for the power of conceiving ideas, as when we say, a thing is not within our conception. Some writers have defined conception as a distinct faculty of the mind; but it is considered by others as memory, and perhaps with propriety.
5. Purpose conceived; conception with reference to the performance of an act. – Shak.
6. Apprehension; knowledge. And as if beasts conceived what reason were, / And that conception should distinctly show. – Davies.
7. Conceit; affected sentiment, or thought. He is too full of conceptions, points of epigram, and witticisms – Dryden.

CON-CEP'TIOUS, a.

Apt to conceive; fruitful; pregnant. [Not now used.] – Shak.

CON-CEP'TIVE, a.

Capable of conceiving. [Little used.] – Brown.

CON-CEP'TU-AL-IST, n.

One who holds the doctrine that the mind has the power of forming general conceptions. – Stewart.

CON-CERN', a.

1. That which relates or belongs to one; business; affair; a very general term, expressing whatever occupies the time and attention, or affects the interests of a person. Intermeddle not in the private concerns of a family. Religion is the main concern of a rational being. We have no concern in the private quarrels of our neighbors. The industrious and prudent occupy their time with their own concerns.
2. Interest; importance; moment; that which affects the welfare or happiness; as, to live in peace, is a matter of no small concern to a nation. Mysterious secrets of a high concern, / And weighty truths, solid convincing sense, / Explained by unaffected eloquence. – Roscommon.
3. Affection; regard; careful regard; solicitude; anxiety; as, why all this concern for the poor things of this life? O Marcia, let me hope thy kind concerns, / And gentle wishes, follow me to battle. – Addison. An impenitent man feels no concern for his soul. – Anon.
4. Persons connected in business, or their affairs in general; as, a debt due to the whole concern; a loss affecting the whole concern. Mercantile Usage.

CON-CERN', v.t. [Fr. concerner; It. concernere; Sp. concernir; to concern, to regard, to belong to; L. Latin concerno; con and cerno, to separate, sift, divide; to see. If this is the true origin, as I suppose, the primary sense is, to reach or extend to, or to look to, as we use regard.]

1. To relate or belong to. Preaching the kingdom of God and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ. – Acts xxviii.
2. To relate or belong to, in an emphatical manner; to affect the interest of; to be of importance to. Our wars with France have affected us in our most tender interests, and concerned us more than those with any other nation. – Addison. It much concerns us to secure the favor and protection of God. – Anon.
3. To interest or affect the passions; to take an interest in; to engage by feeling or sentiment; as, a good prince concerns himself in the happiness of his subjects; a kind parent concerns himself in the virtuous education of his children. They think themselves out of the reach of Providence, and no longer concerned to solicit his favor. – Rogers.
4. To disturb; to make uneasy. [Little used.] – Derham.
5. To intermeddle; as, we need not concern ourselves with the affairs of our neighbors.