A conceptual schema is a map of concepts and their relationships.

Incomplete list of concepts:

• physical object (an instance of something)
• abstraction (a class of something)

Incomplete list of relationships:

• A is a B
• A contains B
• A requires B

The next step towards creating a database design, after a conceptual schema is produced, is a logical schema.

See also:

• Knowledge representation
• Mindmap, Semantic Web, Ontology (computer science)