concept

American  

[kon-sept] / ˈkɒn sɛpt /

noun

• concepts
  plural

1. a general notion or idea; conception.

2. an idea of something formed by mentally combining all its characteristics or particulars; a construct.

3. a directly conceived or intuited object of thought.

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adjective

1. functioning as a prototype or model of new product or innovation.

   a concept car,

   a concept phone.

verb (used with object)

1. Informal. to develop a concept of; conceive.

   He concepted and produced three films.

concept British  

/ ˈkɒnsɛpt /

noun

1. an idea, esp an abstract idea

   the concepts of biology

2. philosophy a general idea or notion that corresponds to some class of entities and that consists of the characteristic or essential features of the class

3. philosophy

   1. the conjunction of all the characteristic features of something

   2. a theoretical construct within some theory

   3. a directly intuited object of thought

   4. the meaning of a predicate

4. (modifier) (of a product, esp a car) created as an exercise to demonstrate the technical skills and imagination of the designers, and not intended for mass production or sale

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• concepts
  plural

Etymology

Origin of concept

First recorded in 1550–60; from Latin conceptum “something conceived,” originally neuter of conceptus “conceived,” past participle of concipere “to conceive,” equivalent to con- con- ( def. ) + -cipere, combining form of capere “to seize”

Explanation

A concept is a thought or idea. If you're redecorating your bedroom, you might want to start with a concept, such as "flower garden" or "outer space." It's a general idea about a thing or group of things, derived from specific instances or occurrences. It often applies to a theoretical idea in science: Einstein's contribution to the concept of relativity. Concept was borrowed from Late Latin conceptus, from Latin concipere "to take in, conceive, receive." A concept is an idea conceived in the mind. The original meaning of the verb conceive was to take sperm into the womb, and by a later extension of meaning, to take an idea into the mind.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

concept concepts

Heat days are a newer concept - and there are no specified maximum temperatures for a classroom.

From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026

"In our family, we use this concept in normal life as well," he says.

From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026

“That led us to create this vertical concept, which takes the core ingredients that we believe make our single-family model special, and we have essentially urbanized that in a vertical format,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026

But fame as a general concept also seems much more attainable than it did 21 years ago.

From Salon ● Aug. 18, 2026

Studies have been done on mirrors and animals, and it has been decided that only primates understand the concept of reflection in a mirror.

From This Side of Wild by Gary Paulsen

District Judge Nusrat Choudhury said in her ruling that the 82-year-old demonstrated an ability to understand legal concepts and communicate effectively with his counsel.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

The signings of technical, deep-lying midfielders aid these overarching concepts.

From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026

NWR’s high concepts and their abrasive execution don’t always coalesce.

From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2026

Simpson said he had begun to “put the puzzle pieces together,” marrying concepts with lessons learned watching Stafford and Bennett.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

Almost at once popularizers of science tried to come up with ways to make these concepts accessible to a general audience.

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson

Related Words

• approach
• conception
• image
• notion
• perception
• theory
• thought
• view