concept (Dutch)
Where does "concept" come from?
The Dutch word 'concept' traces its roots back to the Latin 'conceptus,' which was the past participle of a verb meaning 'to receive' or 'to catch.' It evolved through Middle French before being borrowed into Dutch, shifting from the literal act of taking something in to the abstract mental process of forming an idea or a preliminary draft.
Full etymology tree
- concept (Dutch), 'concept'
- borrowed concept (Middle French)
- inherited conceptus (Latin), 'received, caught'
- derived concipiō (Latin), 'to receive or catch, grasp'
- compound con- (Latin), 'Used in compounds to indicate a being or bringing together of several objects'
- compound capiō (Latin), 'to take, to capture, to catch, to seize, to take captive, to storm'
- calque σῠλλᾰμβᾰ́νω (sŭllămbắnō) (Ancient Greek)
- derived concipiō (Latin), 'to receive or catch, grasp'
- inherited conceptus (Latin), 'received, caught'
- borrowed concept (Middle French)
Ancestors
- conceptus (Latin)
Descendants and derived words
- konsep (Afrikaans)
- konsep (Indonesian)
Updated July 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris