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.

---

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

---

Conquest ² British  

/ ˈkɒnkwɛst, ˈkɒŋ- /

noun

1. See Norman Conquest

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

---

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

Explanation

Alexander the Great's famous conquest of the Persian Empire was an act of conquering. For Casanova, on the other hand, a conquest was an act of seduction. Conquest derives from the Vulgar Latin word conquaerere, meaning "to search for, procure by effort, or win." In addition to its most commonly used meanings — conquering and seduction — conquest has a third, less well-known meaning: a success in mastering something difficult, like the violin, for instance, or flying an airplane.

Example Sentences

In AD 452, when Attila the Hun sacked city after city in his conquest of the known world, it was the Catholic Church, not the Roman military, that met him in a show of diplomacy.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 13, 2026

Sheinbaum's predecessor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, had demanded in 2019 that Spain apologise for human rights violations during its conquest.

From BBC • Mar. 19, 2026

According to the Hollywood Reporter, HBO is also developing the story of Aegon’s conquest of Westeros as a potential drama series.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 3, 2026

Still, the rule doesn’t make exceptions for violent conquest, and the global community in general has not accepted that invasion.

From Salon • Feb. 25, 2026

States, though—especially so-called empires formed by amalgamation or conquest of states—are regularly multiethnic and multilingual.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

Related Words

• annexation
• invasion
• occupation
• rout
• subjugation