conatus

American  

[koh-ney-tuhs] / koʊˈneɪ təs /

noun

plural

conatus

1. an effort or striving.

2. a force or tendency simulating a human effort.

3. (in the philosophy of Spinoza) the force in every animate creature toward the preservation of its existence.

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conatus British  

/ kəʊˈneɪtəs /

noun

1. an effort or striving of natural impulse

2. (esp in the philosophy of Spinoza) the tendency of all things to persist in their own being

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Etymology

Origin of conatus

1655–65; < Latin: exertion, equivalent to cōnā ( rī ) to attempt + -tus suffix of v. action

Example Sentences

Ille stolide perrexerunt ad dicunt quod "illi conatus defecerint."

From Slate • Feb. 11, 2013

He adds: "�s magnum tempus, quo id dispungere conatus est, parvum."

From Bibliomania; or Book-Madness A Bibliographical Romance by Dibdin, Thomas Frognall

Itaque ad hujusmodi conatus nolite expavescere; jam enim toties eorum calumniae repulsae sunt, ut nihil nunc agant, quam vetera ut nova proponere, instaurare disjecta, detecta retexere.

From The Irish Ecclesiastical Record, Volume 1, March 1865 by Various

This conatus is afterwards continuous from the lands through the root even to outmosts, and from outmosts to firsts, wherein use itself is in its origin.

From Angelic Wisdom Concerning the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom by Ager, John

The image of the Infinite in these forms is plain from their conatus and power to fill the spaces of the whole world, and even of many worlds, to infinity.

From Angelic Wisdom Concerning the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom by Ager, John