noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   The belief that the extension of a concept or term is determined by some aspect of the speaker's conception of its extension. uncountable
2. 2
   The belief that life begins at conception, and thus all abortion is murder. uncountable

Etymology

From conception + -ism. In the philosophical sense, introduced by Ruth Millikan.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.