conceptual

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *ḱe?

Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm

Proto-Italic *kom

Proto-Italic *kom-

Latin con-

substratebor.?

Proto-Indo-European *kap-

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *kapyéti

Proto-Italic *kapjō

Old Latin kapiō

Latin capiō

▲

Ancient Greek σῠλλᾰμβᾰ́νω (sŭllămbắnō)calq.

Latin concipiō

Proto-Indo-European *-tus

Proto-Italic *-tus

Latin -tus

Latin conceptus

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-der.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālis

Medieval Latin conceptuālisbor.

English conceptual

Borrowed from Medieval Latin conceptuālis, from Latin conceptus, perfect passive participle of concipiō (“take hold of; conceive”); see concept and -al.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /kənˈsɛp.tjʊəl/, /kənˈsɛp.t͡ʃʊəl/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /kənˈsɛp.t͡ʃu.əl/
• (Australian, New Zealand) IPA^(key): /kənˈsep.t͡ʃʉ.əl/

Adjective

conceptual (comparative more conceptual, superlative most conceptual)

1. Of, or relating to concepts or mental conception.
   • 1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →ISBN, page viii:

     The repeated exposure, over decades, to most taxa here treated has resulted in repeated modifications of both diagnoses and discussions, as initial ideas of the various taxa underwent—often repeated—conceptual modification.

2. Existing only in the imagination.

   We defined a conceptual model before designing the real thing.

3. Of or relating to conceptualism.

Synonyms

• (of a concept): ideal, notional
• (imaginary): ideal, imaginary, notional
• (of conceptualism): conceptualistic

Derived terms

• aconceptual
• anticonceptual
• biconceptual
• conceptual analysis
• conceptual art
• conceptual definition
• conceptual engineering
• conceptual fallacy
• conceptual graph
• conceptual inverse
• conceptualism
• conceptualist
• conceptuality
• conceptualization
• conceptualize
• conceptually
• conceptual metaphor
• conceptual network
• conceptual physics
• conceptual schema
• metaconceptual
• multiconceptual
• neoconceptual
• nonconceptual
• periconceptual
• photoconceptual
• postconceptual
• preconceptual
• subconceptual
• uniconceptual

Related terms

• concept
• conceptualism

Descendants

• German: konzeptuell

Translations

of, or relating to concepts or mental conception; existing in the imagination

• Belarusian: канцэптуа́льны (kanceptuálʹny)
• Bulgarian: умозрителен (bg) (umozritelen)
• Catalan: conceptual (ca)
• Danish: konceptuel
• Dutch: conceptueel (nl)
• Finnish: käsite-, käsitteellinen (fi), ajatuksellinen, konsepti-, konseptuaalinen
• French: conceptuel (fr)
• Galician: conceptual (gl)
• German: konzeptionell (de)
• Greek: εννοιολογικός (el) (ennoiologikós)
• Hungarian: fogalmi (hu)
• Indonesian: konseptual (id)
• Japanese: 概念的 (gainenteki)
• Latvian: jēdzienisks, konceptuāls
• Portuguese: conceitual (pt), conceptual (Brazil, Portugal), concetual (Portugal)
• Russian: концептуа́льный (ru) (konceptuálʹnyj)
• Spanish: conceptual (es)
• Swedish: konceptuell (sv), begreppsmässig (sv), begreppslig (sv)
• Tagalog: dalumatin
• Ukrainian: концептуа́льний (konceptuálʹnyj)
• Yiddish: באַגריפֿיק (bagrifik)

of, or relating to conceptualism

• Catalan: conceptual (ca)
• Finnish: konseptualistinen
• Greek: εννοιοκρατικός (el) (ennoiokratikós)
• Indonesian: konseptual (id)
• Latvian: konceptuāls
• Polish: konceptualny (pl)
• Portuguese: conceitual (pt), conceptual (Brazil, Portugal), concetual (Portugal)
• Tagalog: dalumatin
• Ukrainian: концептуа́льний (konceptuálʹnyj)

Further reading

• “conceptual”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “conceptual”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Central) [kun.səp.tuˈal]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [kon.səp.tuˈal]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia, Northwestern) [kon.sep.tuˈal]
• Rhymes: -al

Adjective

conceptual m or f (masculine and feminine plural conceptuals)

1. conceptual

Derived terms

• conceptualisme
• conceptualista
• conceptualitzar

Related terms

• concepte

Further reading

• “conceptual”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

Galician

Adjective

conceptual m or f (plural conceptuais)

1. conceptual

Derived terms

• conceptualmente

Related terms

• concepto

Further reading

• “conceptual”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026

Portuguese

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *ḱe?

Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm

Proto-Italic *kom

Proto-Italic *kom-

Latin con-

substratebor.?

Proto-Indo-European *kap-

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *kapyéti

Proto-Italic *kapjō

Old Latin kapiō

Latin capiō

▲

Ancient Greek σῠλλᾰμβᾰ́νω (sŭllămbắnō)calq.

Latin concipiō

Proto-Indo-European *-tus

Proto-Italic *-tus

Latin -tus

Latin conceptus

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-der.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālis

Medieval Latin conceptuālislbor.

Portuguese conceptual

Learned borrowing from Medieval Latin conceptuālis.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /kõ.se.pi.tuˈaw/ [kõ.se.pi.tʊˈaʊ̯], (faster pronunciation) /kõ.se.piˈtwaw/ [kõ.se.piˈtwaʊ̯], /kõ.sep.tuˈaw/ [kõ.sep.tʊˈaʊ̯], (faster pronunciation) /kõ.sepˈtwaw/ [kõ.sepˈtwaʊ̯]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /kõ.se.pi.tuˈaw/ [kõ.se.pi.tʊˈaʊ̯], (faster pronunciation) /kõ.se.piˈtwaw/ [kõ.se.piˈtwaʊ̯], /kõ.sep.tuˈaw/ [kõ.sep.tʊˈaʊ̯], (faster pronunciation) /kõ.sepˈtwaw/ [kõ.sepˈtwaʊ̯]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /kõ.sep.tuˈaw/ [kõ.sep.tʊˈaʊ̯], (faster pronunciation) /kõ.sepˈtwaw/ [kõ.sepˈtwaʊ̯], /kõ.se.pi.tuˈaw/ [kõ.se.pi.tʊˈaʊ̯], (faster pronunciation) /kõ.se.piˈtwaw/ [kõ.se.piˈtwaʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /kõ.sɛˈptwal/ [kõ.sɛˈptwaɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /kõ.sɛˈptwal/ [kõ.sɛˈptwaɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /kõ.sɛˈptwa.li/

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
• Hyphenation: con‧cep‧tu‧al

Adjective

conceptual m or f (plural conceptuais)

1. alternative form of concetual / conceitual

Derived terms

• conceptualmente

Further reading

• “conceptual”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “conceptual”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French conceptuel. By surface analysis, concept +‎ -ual.

Adjective

conceptual m or n (feminine singular conceptuală, masculine plural conceptuali, feminine/neuter plural conceptuale)

1. conceptual

Declension

Declension of conceptual

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	conceptual		conceptuală	conceptuali	conceptuale
	definite	conceptualul		conceptuala	conceptualii	conceptualele
genitive- dative	indefinite	conceptual		conceptuale	conceptuali	conceptuale
	definite	conceptualului		conceptualei	conceptualilor	conceptualelor

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin conceptuālis, from conceptus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /konθebˈtwal/ [kõn̟.θeβ̞ˈt̪wal] (Equatorial Guinea, Spain)
• IPA^(key): /konsebˈtwal/ [kõn.seβ̞ˈt̪wal] (Latin America, Philippines)
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: con‧cep‧tual

Adjective

conceptual m or f (masculine and feminine plural conceptuales)

1. conceptual

Derived terms

• conceptualismo
• conceptualista
• conceptualizar
• conceptualmente

Related terms

• concepto

Further reading

• “conceptual”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025