conative

[ kon-uh-tiv, koh-nuh- ]

adjective
  1. Psychology. pertaining to or of the nature of conation.

  2. Grammar. expressing endeavor or effort: a conative verb.

noun
  1. Grammar. a conative word, affix, or verbal aspect.

Origin of conative

1
First recorded in 1680–90; conat(ion) + -ive

Words Nearby conative

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How to use conative in a sentence

  • Man's spirit has to carry all its knowledge and experience into its own conative spiritual potencies.

  • As to sentiments and emotions, they involve ideas and conative elements in addition to sensations and feelings.

  • With this "conative act," as the psychologists would call it, the true contemplative life begins.

    Practical Mysticism | Evelyn Underhill
  • He totally ignores the existence and organisation of the conative side of the mind.

    The Group Mind | William McDougall
  • The third Brook of Grace irrigates the conative powers of the self; strengthens the will in all perfection, and energises us anew.

    Ruysbroeck | Evelyn Underhill

British Dictionary definitions for conative

conative

/ (ˈkɒnətɪv, ˈkəʊ-) /


adjective
  1. grammar denoting an aspect of verbs in some languages used to indicate the effort of the agent in performing the activity described by the verb

  2. of or relating to conation

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012