nisus

American  

[nahy-suhs] / ˈnaɪ səs /

noun

• nisus
  plural

1. an effort or striving toward a particular goal or attainment; impulse.

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nisus British  

/ ˈnaɪsəs /

noun

1. an impulse towards or striving after a goal

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• nisus
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of nisus

First recorded in 1690–1700; from Latin nīsus “planting one’s feet firmly, strong muscular effort,” equivalent to nīt(ī) “to support or exert oneself” + -sus, variant of -tus suffix denoting the action of the verb

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

nisus

And in physical causes, we do not observe the nisus of these causes, but only the phenomena which form the sequents of this nisus.

From A Review of Edwards's by Henry Philip Tappan

But then again we might seek to explain why the nisus is always made in the direction of the agreeable.

From A Review of Edwards's by Henry Philip Tappan

There remains one obscure point in any event, and that is, the nature of what the ancients called the nisus formativus.

From Essay on the Creative Imagination by Albert Heyem Nachmen Baron

But then again we might seek to explain why this nisus is always made in the direction of the rational.

From A Review of Edwards's by Henry Philip Tappan

They put forth their nisus, and produce phenomena by a fixed and invariable law, established by the divine will.

From A Review of Edwards's by Henry Philip Tappan

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