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

See Examples For:

nisus

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 George Saintsbury

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

Its volitions or its efforts, or its nisus to do, are limited only by the extent of its intelligence.

From A Review of Edwards's by Henry Philip Tappan

The word nisus I have adopted chiefly to express an energy truly vital, and therefore to distinguish it as clearly as possible from powers merely mechanical, by which some physiologists formerly endeavoured to explain generation.

From Curiosities of Medical Experience by J. G. (John Gideon) Millingen

When the determination is in the direction of the sensitivity, there is a play of emotions and passions, but the will again knows only the nisus of power which carries it in this direction.

From A Review of Edwards's by Henry Philip Tappan