inception

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inception

/ɪnˈsɛpʃən/

Rhymes with -ɛpʃən

Where it comes from

Late Middle English, borrowed from Latin inceptiō, from inceptus, perfect passive participle of incipiō (“to begin”).

The layering sense derives from the 2010 science fiction film Inception, in which a team of people infiltrate someone’s subconscious mind, proceeding through several layers of dreams with the goal of causing the target to incept an idea.

noun inceptions

countable, uncountable The creation or beginning of something; the establishment. From its inception, the agency has been helping people obtain and properly install car seats for children.
countable, uncountable A layering, nesting, or recursion of something within itself. Well it's the… Mr. Introspective / I'm a dreamer's dream, a sort of an inception

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: origin, genesis, origination, advent, outset, commencement, beginning, start, starting, get-go, begin, startup, commence, opening, development, entry

Translations

Every language

noun the creation or beginning of something

Español	comienzo, inicio, encetadura, encentadura, encentamiento, incepción
中文	开端 kāiduān
Português	conceção, concepção, início, começo
Français	commencement, début
Deutsch	Anfang, Beginn, Einführung
Italiano	debutto, inizio, principio
Română	început
Русский	нача́ло načálo, отправная точка otpravnaja točka, исходное положе́ние isxodnoje položénije
العربية	اِسْتِهْلَال istihlāl
עברית	הַתְחָלָה hatkhalá

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MLA

"inception." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/inception. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

inception. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/inception

Chicago

"inception." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/inception.

BibTeX

@misc{inception_2026,
  title = {inception},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/inception},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}