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• conquest
  conquest

  noun

  the act or state of conquering or the state of being conquered; vanquishment.
• Conquest
  Conquest

  noun

  See Norman Conquest

conquest

American  

[kon-kwest, kong-] / ˈkɒn kwɛst, ˈkɒŋ- /

noun

• conquests
  plural

1. the act or state of conquering or the state of being conquered; vanquishment.

   Synonyms:

   mastery, defeat, subjugation

   Antonyms:

   surrender

2. the winning of favor, affection, love, etc..

   the conquest of Antony by Cleopatra.

   Synonyms:

   enchantment, seduction

3. a person whose favor, affection, etc., has been won.

   He's another one of her conquests.

4. anything acquired by conquering, as a nation, a territory, or spoils.

5. the Conquest. Norman Conquest.

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conquest ¹ British  

/ ˈkɒnkwɛst, ˈkɒŋ- /

noun

1. the act or an instance of conquering or the state of having been conquered; victory

2. a person, thing, etc, that has been conquered or won

3. the act or art of gaining a person's compliance, love, etc, by seduction or force of personality

4. a person, whose compliance, love, etc, has been won over by seduction or force of personality

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Conquest ² British  

/ ˈkɒnkwɛst, ˈkɒŋ- /

noun

1. See Norman Conquest

2. the conquest by the United Kingdom of French North America, ending in 1763

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Synonym Usage

See victory.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• reconquest
  noun
• self-conquest
  noun
• postconquest
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• conquests
  plural

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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

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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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

conquest Conquest conquests

In its early years, the country bounded across a continent with the Louisiana Purchase, the annexation of Texas and the conquest of California.

From Salon ● Oct. 13, 2026

The conquest took place around 300 years before the events of “Game of Thrones” and is detailed in George R.R.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2026

It was originally embroidered in England but kept for centuries in France, and tells the story of the Norman conquest of England and the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026

The 11th-century work, which depicts the Norman conquest of England by William the Conqueror, arrived in London in July for a sell-out showcase that runs until July 2027.

From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026

It can create what some anthropologists call a culture of conquest.

From "An Indigenous People’s History of the United States" by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

New research from the University of East Anglia suggests that a lost papal letter could change how historians understand the events of 1066 and the Norman Conquest.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 11, 2026

The siege is the subject of Anthony Kaldellis’s “1453: The Conquest and Tragedy of Constantinople.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026

The early medieval masterpiece, which tells the story of the events leading up to 1066 and the Norman Conquest, is being checked over by French and British conservators ahead of going on display in September.

From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026

The artwork, which chronicles scenes from the 1066 Battle of Hastings and the start of the Norman Conquest of England, was held in a shock-proof and temperature controlled case to protect the delicate embroidery.

From Barron's ● Jul. 10, 2026

Conquest and liberation and democracy and divorce are words that mean squat, basically, when you have hungry children and clothes to get out on the line and it looks like rain.

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver

He would found the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia after three decades of similarly bloody conquests.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026

The Al-Bass site is centred on a necropolis that dates back three millennia to Tyre's time as a major Phoenician city and was still in use until the Arab conquests of the 7h Century.

From Barron's ● Mar. 24, 2026

Covering 500 years and events from conquests to wars to racism, “America, América” should be required reading in those history classes.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 1, 2025

From 1815 to 1914, London presided over an expanding global system marked by industry, capital exports and colonial conquests, all spurred by the integration of the planet via railroad, steamship, telegraph and radio.

From Salon ● Sep. 20, 2024

Smallpox, measles, influenza, typhus, bubonic plague, and other infectious diseases endemic in Europe played a decisive role in European conquests, by decimating many peoples on other continents.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

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Related Words

• annexation
• invasion
• occupation
• rout
• subjugation

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