Emily Dickinson Lexicon

CON-CEAL', v.t. [Low L. concelo; con and celo, to withhold from sight; Sax. helan, hælen, gehælan, gehelan, to heal and to conceal; G. hehlen, to conceal, and heilen, to heal; D. heelen, to heal and to conceal; Dan. hæler, to conceal; W. celu, to hide; Fr. celer; It. celare; Sp. callar, to keep silence, to dissemble, to abate, to grow calm; Port. calar, to conceal or keep close, to pull or let down, “cala a boca,” hold your peace; also intransitive, to be still or quiet, to keep silence; coinciding in origin with whole, all, holy, hold, &c. The primary sense is to strain, hold, stop, restrain, make fast or strong, all from the same root as the Shemitic כול, כלא, كَلأَ, ከልአ kalea, Gr. κωλυω. Class Gl, No. 32, 36.]

1. To keep close or secret; to forbear to disclose; to withhold from utterance or declaration; as, to conceal one's thoughts or opinions. I have not concealed the words of the Holy One. Job vi.
2. To hide; to withdraw from observation; to cover or keep from sight; as, a party of men concealed themselves behind a wall; a mask conceals the face. What profit is it if we slay our brother and conceal his blood? Gen. xxxvii.

CON-CEAL'A-BLE, a.

That may be concealed, hid or kept close. – Brown.

CON-CEAL'ED, pp.

Kept close or secret; hid; withdrawn from sight; covered.

CON-CEAL'ED-LY, adv.

So as not to be detected.

CON-CEAL'ED-NESS, n.

A state of being concealed.

CON-CEAL'ER, n.

One who conceals; as, the concealer of a crime. – Clarendon.

CON-CEAL'ING, n.

A hiding; a withholding from disclosure.

CON-CEAL'ING, ppr.

Keeping close or secret; forbearing to disclose; hiding; covering.

CON-CEAL'MENT, n.

1. Forbearance of disclosure; a keeping close or secret; as, the concealment of opinions or passions.
2. The act of hiding, covering, or withdrawing from sight; as the concealment of the face by a mask, or of the person by any cover or shelter.
3. The state of being hid or concealed; privacy; as, a project formed in concealment.
4. The place of hiding; a secret place; retreat from observation; cover from sight. The cleft tree / Offers its kind concealment to a few, / Their food its insects, and its moss their nests. – Thomson.

CON-CEDE', v.t. [L. concedo; con and cedo, to yield, give way, depart, desist; It. concedere, cedere; Sp. conceder, ceder; Fr. conceder, ceder; Ir. ceadaighim; W. gadael, and gadaw, to quit or leave, to permit. The preterite cessi indicates that this word may be from a root in Class Gs. See that Class No. 67, Samaritan. See also Class Gd, and Cede and Conge.]

1. To yield; to admit as true, just or proper; to grant; to let pass undisputed; as, the advocate concedes the point in question; this must not be conceded without limitation. – Boyle.
2. To allow; to admit to be true. We concede that their citizens were those who lived under different forms. – Burke.

CON-CED'ED, pp.

Yielded; admitted; granted; as, a question, proposition, fact or statement is conceded.

CON-CED'ING, ppr.

Yielding; admitting; granting.

CON-CEIT', n. [It. concetto; Sp. concepto; Port. conceito; L. conceptus, from concipio, to conceive; con and capio, to take or seize.]

1. Conception; that which is conceived, imagined, or formed in the mind; idea; thought; image. In laughing there ever precedeth a conceit of somewhat ridiculous, and therefore it is proper to man. – Bacon.
2. Understanding; power or faculty of conceiving; apprehension; as, a man of quick conceit. [Nearly antiquated.] How often did her eyes say to me, that they loved! yet I, not looking for such a matter, had not my conceit open to understand them. – Sidney.
3. Opinion; notion; fancy; imagination; fantastic notion; as, a strange or odd conceit. Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? there is more hope of a fool than of him. – Prov. xxvi.
4. Pleasant fancy; gayety of imagination. On the way to the gibbet, a freak took him in the head to go off with a conceit. – L'Estrange.
5. A striking thought; affected or unnatural conception. Some to conceit alone their works confine. – Pope.
6. Favorable or self-flattering opinion; a lofty or vain conception of one's own person or accomplishments. By a little study and a great conceit of himself, he has lost his religion. – Bentley. Out of conceit with, not having a favorable opinion of; no longer pleased with; as, a man is out of conceit with his dress. Hence to put one out of conceit with, is to make him indifferent to a thing, or in a degree displeased with it. – Tillotson. Swift.

CON-CEIT', v.t.

To conceive; to imagine; to think; to fancy. The strong, by conceiting themselves weak, are thereby rendered inactive. – South.

CON-CEIT'ED, pp.

1. Conceived; imagined; fancied.
2. participial adj. Endowed with fancy, or imagination. [Obs.] – Knolles.
3. adj. Entertaining a flattering opinion of one's self; having a vain or too high conception of one's own person or accomplishments; vain. If you think me too conceited, / Or to passion quickly heated. – Swift. Followed by of before the object of conceit. The Athenians were conceited of their own wit, science and politeness. – Bentley.

CON-CEIT'ED-LY, adv.

In a conceited manner; fancifully; whimsically. Conceitedly dress her. – Donne.

CON-CEIT'ED-NESS, n.

The state of being conceited; conceit; vanity; an overweening fondness of one's own person or endowments. – Collier.

CON-CEIT'LESS, a.

Of dull conception; stupid; dull of apprehension. [Not in use.] – Shak.

CON-CEIV'A-BLE, a. [Fr. concevable; It. concepibile; Sp. conceptible. See Conceive.]

1. That may be imagined, or thought; capable of being framed in the mind by the fancy or imagination. If it were possible to contrive an invention, whereby any conceivable weight may be moved by any conceivable power. – Wilkins.
2. That may be understood or believed. It is not conceivable, that it should be the very person, whose shape and voice is assumed. – Atterbury.

CON-CEIV'A-BLE-NESS, n.

The quality of being conceivable.

CON-CEIV'A-BLY, adv.

In a conceivable or intelligible manner.

CON-CEIVE', v.i.

1. To have a fetus formed in the womb; to breed; to become pregnant. Thou shalt conceive and bear a son. – Judges xiii.
2. To think; to have a conception or idea. Conceive of things clearly and distinctly in their own natures. – Watts. The grieved commons / Hardly conceive of me. – Shak.
3. To understand; to comprehend; to have a complete idea of; as, I can not conceive by what means this event has been produced.

CON-CEIVE', v.t. [Fr. concevoir; It. concepire; Sp. concebir; Port. conceber; L. concipio; con and capio, to take.]

1. To receive into the womb, and breed; to begin the formation of the embryo or fetus of an animal. Then shall she be free and conceive seed. Numb. v. Heb. xi. Elisabeth hath conceived a son in her old age. Luke i. In sin did my mother conceive me. Ps. li.
2. To form in the mind; to imagine; to devise. They conceive mischief and bring forth vanity. Job xv. Nebuchadnezzar hath conceived a purpose against you. Jer. xlix.
3. To form an idea in the mind; to understand; to comprehend; as, we cannot conceive the manner in which spirit operates upon matter.
4. To think; to be of opinion; to have an idea; to imagine. You can hardly conceive this man to have been bred in the same climate. – Swift.

CON-CEIV'ED, pp.

Formed in the womb; framed in the mind; devised; imagined; understood.

CON-CEIV'ER, n.

One that conceives; one that comprehends.