conatus
Americannoun
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an effort or striving.
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a force or tendency simulating a human effort.
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(in the philosophy of Spinoza) the force in every animate creature toward the preservation of its existence.
noun
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an effort or striving of natural impulse
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(esp in the philosophy of Spinoza) the tendency of all things to persist in their own being
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of conatus
1655–65; < Latin: exertion, equivalent to cōnā ( rī ) to attempt + -tus suffix of v. action
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.
Ille stolide perrexerunt ad dicunt quod "illi conatus defecerint."
From Slate • Feb. 11, 2013
It also follows that there is a conatus more interior, that is, the conatus to produce uses for the animal kingdom through vegetable growths, since by these animals of every kind are nourished.
From Angelic Wisdom Concerning the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom by Ager, John
Humphredus Gilbert Eques, Americ� oras Hifpanis incognitas, magno animo & viribus, fucceffu non aequali noftris aperire conatus eft.
From Thomas Hariot, the Mathematician, the Philosopher and the Scholar by Stevens, Henry
Nequaquam enim mortem intentat matri, sed actione, quam non ipse sed corpus matris producit, conatur ad lucem pervenire, et iste conatus non nisi ex naturali concursu rerum fit matri causa mortis.
From Essays In Pastoral Medicine by ?Malley, Austin
He adds: "�s magnum tempus, quo id dispungere conatus est, parvum."
From Bibliomania; or Book-Madness A Bibliographical Romance by Dibdin, Thomas Frognall
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.
