A
concept is an
abstraction or
generalization from experience or the result of a transformation of existing ideas. The concept is by all of its actual or potential instances, whether these are things in the real world or other
ideas. Concepts are treated in many if not most disciplines both explicitly, such as in
psychology,
philosophy, etc., and implicitly, such as in
mathematics,
physics, etc. In use the word
concept often just means any
idea, but formally it involves the abstraction component.