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

Even that shape, the blended-wing concept, stretches back to the early days of aviation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026

The concept loosely resembles the way molten rock travels through cracks in Earth's crust before contributing to volcanic eruptions.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 29, 2026

The trouble is, the MBacc itself can be quite a difficult concept to get your head around if you're not familiar with it.

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026

Roberts shared a glimpse into the planning of her wedding look with Vogue, who captured designer Monique Lhuillier discussing the concept of the dress.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026

In social studies, in a unit on basic economics, Jake helped Mr. Lyons by describing the difference between satisfying wants and meeting needs to a group that just couldn’t grasp the concept.

From "The Smartest Kid in the Universe" by Chris Grabenstein

"Our chat book is not a library of books -- it's a library of concepts and ideas and facts," says founder Brian Yang.

From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026

It introduced groundbreaking concepts like “white-collar crime,” “gentrification,” “unintended consequences” and “cultural capital.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026

It’s the small details, which we could be here all day enumerating, and the delivery, rather than the big concepts, that bring the show alive.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026

"Future research will hopefully be able to confirm concepts developed in our study in human memory and show their implication in dementia."

From Science Daily ● Jul. 12, 2026

Lipnitsky didn’t just fling concepts at the reader, but rather gave clear and logical examples of how to do what he recommended.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

Related Words

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