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.
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
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
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
So we may say that an enhancement of the conative powers, a greater control over the attention, are the chief marks of the Illuminative Way as perceived by the growing self.
From Ruysbroeck by Evelyn Underhill
Psychologically it is an induced state in which the field of consciousness is greatly contracted: the whole of the self, its conative power, being sharply focussed, concentrated upon one thing.
From Hinduism and Buddhism, An Historical Sketch, Vol. 1 by Sir Charles Eliot
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.
