nisus
Americannoun
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nisus
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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
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.
To deny such a nisus would be to deny the activity, efficiency, and energy of cause.
From A Review of Edwards's by Henry Philip Tappan
Some cases, usually classed under the so-called nisus formativus, at first appear to come under a distinct head; for not only are old structures reproduced, but structures which appear new are formed.
From The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication, Volume II (of 2) by Charles Darwin
The nisus of gravitation we do not observe; we observe merely the facts of gravitation.
From A Review of Edwards's by Henry Philip Tappan
The "epigenesists" held that both the germ and its subsequent organs were built up of juxtaposed molecules according to the operation of a developmental force, or "nisus formations."
From The World's Greatest Books — Volume 15 — Science by Sir John Alexander Hammerton
This nisus naturae is never absent; it is observable even where, as in the generation of “monsters” by living organisms, it partially fails to attain its end.
From Ontology or the Theory of Being by Peter Coffey
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.
