[General] conceive vs. imagine

[thedaffodils]

Hi! Could someone else here tell me the difference between 'conceive' and 'imagine'?

Here's an explanation from Cambridge Dictionaries Online. Yet I am still in the dark. Please help. Thank you!

conceive (IMAGINE)
verb [I or T]
to imagine something:
I think my uncle still conceives of me as a four-year-old.
He couldn't conceive of a time when he would have no job.
[+ question word] I can't conceive (= It is too shocking to imagine) how anyone could behave so cruelly.
[+ that] I find it hard to conceive (= It is too shocking to imagine) that people are still treated so badly.

Cambridge Dictionaries Online - Cambridge University Press

[Anglika]

One of the great problems in creating dictionary definitions is that you have to use other words to explain something

To conceive something is to devise it in the mind, to grasp it > i.e. to comprehend it.

To imagine something is to form a mental picture of something.

[BobK]

Originally Posted by Anglika

One of the great problems in creating dictionary definitions is that you have to use other words to explain something

To conceive something is to devise it in the mind, to grasp it > i.e. to comprehend it. Or in other words to form a concept or conception of it.

To imagine something is to form a mental picture of something.

Another problem with dictionaries is that the examples they give can be artificial. I think it would be much more natural to say either of these:

"I think my uncle still thinks of me as a four-year-old."
"I think my uncle still sees me as a four-year-old."
Or, more angrily,
"My uncle still treats me like a four-year-old."
Or, if s/he remembers Mrs Thistlebottom's 'grammar' lessons
"My uncle still treats me as though I were a four-year-old."

"Conceives of" would come into its own when the uncle had to really start doing some thinking (changing his mind, rather than not changing it):
"My uncle can't conceive of me as a grown-up with a driving licence."

b

[thedaffodils]

Hi Anglika,

Thank you very much for your help.

One of the great problems in creating dictionary definitions is that you have to use other words to explain something

I suppose that was why the saying of "seeing is believing" was created.

[Soup]

Originally Posted by Anglika

One of the great problems in creating dictionary definitions is that you have to use other words to explain something

To conceive something is to devise it in the mind, to grasp it > i.e. to comprehend it.

Additionally,

... , in the sense of to produce, as in; e.g., to conceive a child--to create something new, to conceive of; e.g., an idea for a brand--it's realized, whereas what's imagined isn't realized, at least not yet.

[thedaffodils]

Hi BobK & Soup,

Thank you very much for your explanations too. I see.

Have a good one!

[SUDHKAMP]

To imagine is the process of thinking, and to arrive at some concept that is, to have some fixed idea about a certain state of things is called concieving.
Imagine is the process and concept is the final product.

[thedaffodils]

Originally Posted by SUDHKAMP

To imagine is the process of thinking, and to arrive at some concept that is, to have some fixed idea about a certain state of things is called concieving.
Imagine is the process and concept is the final product.

Hi SUDHKAMP,

Thank you for your answer.

[Raymott]

Originally Posted by SUDHKAMP

To imagine is the process of thinking, and to arrive at some concept that is, to have some fixed idea about a certain state of things is called concieving.
Imagine is the process and concept is the final product.

I think that SUDHKAMP, Bob and Soup have made some good points.