conceivablyadv.
/kənˈsiːvəbli/, U.S. /kənˈsivəbli/ In a conceivable or comprehensible manner; as may be imagined or supposed; possibly.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > possibility > [adverb]
welleOE
possiblyc1400
possiblea1425
contingentlyc1430
potentiallyc1450
perhapsa1535
as and when1565
conceivably1625
if you like1813
1625 R. Montagu Appello Cæsarem 61 The first thing he..possibly and conceiveably could doe.
1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica i. i. 4 Being the rule he cannot bee irregular, nor being truth it selfe conceiveably admit the impossible society of error. View more context for this quotation
1734 S. Switzer Universal Syst. Water & Water-wks. I. i. iii. 49 I thought upon a Way that would much more naturally and conceivably explain it.
a1783 W. S. Done Serm. Inner & Middle Temple (1786) ii. 24 Matter..cannot conceivably be formed otherwise than inert.
1841–8 F. Myers Catholic Thoughts II. iii. 24 Even the testimony of the best men..may conceivably not be trustworthy.
1887 F. Hill G. Canning xv. 124 He might conceivably have been desirous of a position independent of political accidents.
1951 Folk-lore 62 310 Such legends might conceivably have been retained after the loss of Norse and the readvance of Gaelic.
2008 New Scientist 13 Dec. 32/1 Our universe could conceivably have emerged from the collapse of a previous universe.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adv.1625