Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Conceit

Con·ceit′ (kŏn·sēt′), n. [Through French, fr. L. conceptus a conceiving, conception, fr. concipere to conceive: cf. OF. p. p. nom. conciez conceived. See Conceive, and cf. Concept, Deceit.] 1. That which is conceived, imagined, or formed in the mind; idea; thought; image; conception.

In laughing, there ever procedeth a conceit of somewhat ridiculous. Bacon.

A man wise in his own conceit. Prov. xxvi. 12.

2. Faculty of conceiving ideas; mental faculty; apprehension; as, a man of quick conceit. [Obs.]

How often, alas! did her eyes say unto me that they loved! and yet I, not looking for such a matter, had not my conceit open to understand them. Sir P. Sidney.

3. Quickness of apprehension; active imagination; lively fancy.

His wit's as thick as Tewksbury mustard; there's more conceit in him than is in a mallet. Shak.

4. A fanciful, odd, or extravagant notion; a quant fancy; an unnatural or affected conception; a witty thought or turn of expression; a fanciful device; a whim; a quip.

On his way to the gibbet, a freak took him in the head to go off with a conceit. L'Estrange.

Some to conceit alone their works confine, And glittering thoughts struck out at every line. Pope.

Tasso is full of conceits . . . which are not only below the dignity of heroic verse but contrary to its nature. Dryden.

5. An overweening idea of one's self; vanity.

Plumed with conceit he calls aloud. Cotton.

6. Design; pattern. [Obs.] Shak.

In conceit with, in accord with; agreeing or conforming. — Out of conceit with, not having a favorable opinion of; not pleased with; as, a man is out of conceit with his dress. — To put [one] out of conceit with, to make one indifferent to a thing, or in a degree displeased with it.

Con·ceit′ (kŏn·sēt′), v. t. To conceive; to imagine. [Archaic]

The strong, by conceiting themselves weak, are therebly rendered as inactive . . . as if they really were so. South.

One of two bad ways you must conceit me, Either a coward or a flatterer. Shak.

Con·ceit′, v. i. To form an idea; to think. [Obs.]

Those whose . . . vulgar apprehensions conceit but low of matrimonial purposes. Milton.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty.