The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Inception \In*cep"tion\, n. [L. inceptio, fr. incipere to begin;
   pref. in- in + capere to take. See Capable.]
   [1913 Webster]
   1. Beginning; commencement; initiation. --Bacon.
      [1913 Webster]

            Marked with vivacity of inception, apathy of
            progress, and prematureness of decay. --Rawle.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Reception; a taking in. [R.] --Poe.
      [1913 Webster]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

53 Moby Thesaurus words for "inception":
   babyhood, beginning, beginnings, birth, childhood, commencement,
   conception, constitution, cradle, derivation, effectuation,
   establishment, formation, foundation, fountain, freshman year,
   genesis, grass roots, head, inauguration, inchoation, incipience,
   incipiency, incunabula, infancy, installation, institution,
   materialization, nascence, nascency, nativity, organization,
   origin, original, origination, parturition, pregnancy, provenance,
   provenience, radical, radix, realization, rise, root, setting-up,
   source, stem, stock, taproot, well, wellspring, whence, youth