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

The will as the power which by its nisus produces changes or phenomena, is conscious of ability to go in either of these directions, or in opposition to both.

From A Review of Edwards's by Henry Philip Tappan

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

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

The will is the cause of its own act; a cause per se, a cause self-conscious and self-moving; it obeys the reason by its own nisus.

From A Review of Edwards's by Henry Philip Tappan

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

From A Review of Edwards's by Henry Philip Tappan