conationn.
/kəʊˈneɪʃən/ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > endeavour > [noun]
intenta1340
endeavourc1400
pursuita1425
attemptation1425
endeavourment1523
endeavouring1548
conation1615
attentation1663
conativea1688
essayal1837
telesis1896
1615 E. Coke Rep. xi. 98 b The matter..ought to be an act or deed, and not a conation or an endeavour.
2. Philosophy. The faculty of volition and desire; also (with adj. plural) the product of this faculty.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > wish or inclination > [noun] > faculty of volition and desire
conationa1856
a1856 W. Hamilton Lect. Metaphysics (1859) I. xi. 189 Phænomena of Desiring or Willing, or the powers of Conation.
a1856 W. Hamilton Lect. Metaphysics (1859) II. xli. 425 We find..the Feelings intermediate between the Cognitions and the Conations.
1882 Ward Lester in Internat. Rev. May A term is needed to express this general conception of voluntary action or the action of the conative faculty. For this the somewhat mediæval term conation, perhaps not used since Sir William Hamilton, is..strikingly appropriate.
3. Sociology. Social effort, esp. of a community to improve its environment.
ΚΠ
1903 L. F. Ward Pure Sociol. ii. xi. 247 We are now prepared to consider the third dynamic principle, which I call conation.
1903 L. F. Ward Pure Sociol. ii. xi. 247 Conation or social effort could not be understood without a clear conception of the true nature of a dynamic action.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1891; most recently modified version published online December 2018).
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n.1615