conquest
Americannoun
-
the act or state of conquering or the state of being conquered; vanquishment.
- Synonyms:
- mastery, defeat, subjugation
- Antonyms:
- surrender
-
the winning of favor, affection, love, etc..
the conquest of Antony by Cleopatra.
- Synonyms:
- enchantment, seduction
-
a person whose favor, affection, etc., has been won.
He's another one of her conquests.
-
anything acquired by conquering, as a nation, a territory, or spoils.
-
the Conquest. Norman Conquest.
noun
-
the act or an instance of conquering or the state of having been conquered; victory
-
a person, thing, etc, that has been conquered or won
-
the act or art of gaining a person's compliance, love, etc, by seduction or force of personality
-
a person, whose compliance, love, etc, has been won over by seduction or force of personality
noun
-
See Norman Conquest
-
the conquest by the United Kingdom of French North America, ending in 1763
Synonym Usage
See victory.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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.
Vocabulary lists containing conquest
"Julius Caesar" by William Shakespeare, Act II
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"Remarks at the Dedication of the Aerospace Medical Health Center," Vocabulary from the speech
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The Middle East and Central Asia - Introductory
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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 contrast those ancient memories with the Wu-Tang Clan’s national conquest in 2025, when their alleged swan song tour, “Wu-Tang Forever: The Final Chamber,” became one of summer’s hottest legacy tickets.
From Salon • May 31, 2026
The comet became one of the most famous symbols associated with the year 1066 and even appears in the Bayeux Tapestry, the medieval artwork depicting the Norman conquest of England.
From Science Daily • May 13, 2026
The Revolutionary War opened the West to conquest and settlement but also exposed its dangers.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 24, 2026
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
This was conquest by will and courage, and besides, the tigers must live to fight and give them pleasure another day.
From "Tiger, Tiger" by Lynne Reid Banks
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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.