conative
Americanadjective
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Psychology. pertaining to or of the nature of conation.
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Grammar. expressing endeavor or effort.
a conative verb.
noun
adjective
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grammar denoting an aspect of verbs in some languages used to indicate the effort of the agent in performing the activity described by the verb
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of or relating to conation
Etymology
Origin of conative
First recorded in 1680–90; conat(ion) + -ive
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Another less common use of the word is to describe the pleasant or painful sensations which accompany muscular activity; the conative phenomena, thus regarded, are psychic changes brought about by external causes.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 7 "Columbus" to "Condottiere" by Various
Physical Reality thus conceived is consistently thinkable as co-existent with the thing-in-itself—be it ultimately Intelligence or Volition—of which our cognitive and conative existence is a manifestation.
From Essays Towards a Theory of Knowledge by Alexander Philip
Present tense, 259; —— gnomic, 259, 1; —— conative, 259, 2; —— historical, 259, 3; —— with jam prīdem, jam diū, etc.,
From New Latin Grammar by Charles E. (Charles Edwin) Bennett
The third Brook of Grace irrigates the conative powers of the self; strengthens the will in all perfection, and energises us anew.
From Ruysbroeck by Evelyn Underhill
Now it is impossible to observe the instinctive routine of the parents, when the young need attention, without being impressed with the conative aspect of their behaviour.
From Territory in Bird Life by H. Eliot Howard
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
