conquest

American  

[kon-kwest, kong-] / ˈkɒn kwɛst, ˈkɒŋ- /

noun

1. the act or state of conquering or the state of being conquered; vanquishment.

   Synonyms:

   mastery , defeat , subjugation

   Antonyms:

   surrender

2. the winning of favor, affection, love, etc..

   the conquest of Antony by Cleopatra.

   Synonyms:

   enchantment , seduction

3. a person whose favor, affection, etc., has been won.

   He's another one of her conquests.

4. anything acquired by conquering, as a nation, a territory, or spoils.

5. the Conquest. Norman Conquest.

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conquest ¹ British  

/ ˈkɒnkwɛst, ˈkɒŋ- /

noun

1. the act or an instance of conquering or the state of having been conquered; victory

2. a person, thing, etc, that has been conquered or won

3. the act or art of gaining a person's compliance, love, etc, by seduction or force of personality

4. a person, whose compliance, love, etc, has been won over by seduction or force of personality

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Conquest ² British  

/ ˈkɒnkwɛst, ˈkɒŋ- /

noun

1. See Norman Conquest

2. the conquest by the United Kingdom of French North America, ending in 1763

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Related Words

See victory.

Other Word Forms

• postconquest adjective
• reconquest noun
• self-conquest noun

Etymology

Origin of conquest

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English conqueste, from Anglo-French, Old French, from unattested Vulgar Latin conquēsta (for Latin conquīsīta, feminine past participle of conquīrere ). See con-, quest

Example Sentences

If Pericles’ funeral oration is a landmark of democratic virtue, the amoral facts of pure force become explicit in the “Melian dialogue” following the Athenian conquest of the neutral island of Melos in 415 B.C.:

From The Wall Street Journal

Despite his imperiousness, at his best Wittgenstein was more concerned with the integrity of the intellectual quest than the glory of philosophical conquest.

From The Wall Street Journal

After the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs, Mexico’s European overlords used its silver and its agricultural wealth to nourish their global enterprises.

From The Wall Street Journal

This Winthropism, for the next two centuries, would be used as justification for “Western conquest of Native Americans, enslavement of Africans, and colonization of everyone else.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Russia’s army is on the verge of its biggest Ukrainian conquest in more than two years.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• annexation
• invasion
• occupation
• rout
• subjugation