conatus

American  

[koh-ney-tuhs] / koʊˈneɪ təs /

noun

plural

conatus

1. an effort or striving.

2. a force or tendency simulating a human effort.

3. (in the philosophy of Spinoza) the force in every animate creature toward the preservation of its existence.

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conatus British  

/ kəʊˈneɪtəs /

noun

1. an effort or striving of natural impulse

2. (esp in the philosophy of Spinoza) the tendency of all things to persist in their own being

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Etymology

Origin of conatus

1655–65; < Latin: exertion, equivalent to cōnā ( rī ) to attempt + -tus suffix of v. action

Example Sentences

Ille stolide perrexerunt ad dicunt quod "illi conatus defecerint."

From Slate • Feb. 11, 2013

It also follows that there is a conatus more interior, that is, the conatus to produce uses for the animal kingdom through vegetable growths, since by these animals of every kind are nourished.

From Angelic Wisdom Concerning the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom by Ager, John

And attraction, a kind of conatus accedendi, is the crown, according to the eighteenth century, of the series of secondary causes.

From Benjamin Franklin Representative selections, with introduction, bibliograpy, and notes by Jorgenson, Chester E.

It further follows that in all these there is an inmost conatus, the conatus to perform use to the human race.

From Angelic Wisdom Concerning the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom by Ager, John

But let application of this be made to living conatus, and to living force, and to living motion.

From Angelic Wisdom Concerning the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom by Ager, John