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

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

When I wish to do anything I make an effort—a nisus to do it; I make an effort to raise my arm, and I raise it.

From A Review of Edwards's by Tappan, Henry Philip

She is not a bookmaker of the worst kind; she evidently had wits and literary velleities; and she does illustrate the blind nisus of the time as already indicated.

From A History of the French Novel, Vol. 1 From the Beginning to 1800 by Saintsbury, George

It may be called a power arbitrary and contingent; but this means only that it is a power which absolutely puts forth its own nisus, and is free.

From A Review of Edwards's by Tappan, Henry Philip

Really, volition is the nisus or effort of that cause which we call will.

From A Review of Edwards's by Tappan, Henry Philip

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 Hammerton, John Alexander, Sir