endeavour
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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English [edit]
Alternative forms [edit]
- endeavor (US)
Etymology [edit]
Middle English endeveren, corresponding to en- + devoir; compare Middle French se mettre en devoir de faire (“to make it one's duty to do, to endeavour to do”).
Pronunciation [edit]
Verb [edit]
endeavour (third-person singular simple present endeavours, present participle endeavouring, simple past and past participle endeavoured)
- (obsolete, reflexive) To exert oneself. [15th-17th c.]
- (intransitive) To attempt through application of effort (to do something); to try strenuously. [from 16th c.]
- 1748. David Hume. Enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principles of moral. London: Oxford University Press, 1973. § 2:
- The other species of philosophers consider man in the light of a reasonable rather than an active being, and endeavour to form his understanding more than cultivate his manners.
- 1748. David Hume. Enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principles of moral. London: Oxford University Press, 1973. § 2:
- (obsolete, transitive) To attempt (something). [16th-17th c.]
- 1669, Sir Isaac Newton, Letter (to Francis Aston), 18 May 1669:
- If you be affronted, it is better, in a foreign country, to pass it by in silence, and with a jest, though with some dishonour, than to endeavour revenge; for, in the first case, your credit's ne'er the worse when you return into England, or come into other company that have not heard of the quarrel.
- 1669, Sir Isaac Newton, Letter (to Francis Aston), 18 May 1669:
Synonyms [edit]
Translations [edit]
to attempt through application of effort
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Noun [edit]
endeavour (plural endeavours)
- A sincere attempt; a determined or assiduous effort towards a specific goal.
- 1640, Thomas Hobbes, The Elements of Law, Part II, Chapter 28,
- And these three: 1. the law over them that have sovereign power; 2. their duty; 3. their profit: are one and the same thing contained in this sentence, Salus populi suprema lex; by which must be understood, not the mere preservation of their lives, but generally their benefit and good. So that this is the general law for sovereigns: that they procure, to the uttermost of their endeavour, the good of the people.
- 1873, J C Maxwell, A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism, Volume 2, page 184:
- As we shall find it necessary, in our endeavours to bring electrical phenomena within the province of dynamics, to have our dynamical ideas in a state fit for direct application to physical questions we shall devote this chapter to an exposition of these dynamical ideas from a physical point of view.
- 1640, Thomas Hobbes, The Elements of Law, Part II, Chapter 28,
- Enterprise; assiduous or persistent activity.
- 1748, David Hume, Enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principles of moral, London: Oxford University Press, 1973, § 9:
- The like has been the endeavour of critics, logicians, and even politicians […] .
- 1748, David Hume, Enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principles of moral, London: Oxford University Press, 1973, § 9:
Translations [edit]
sincere attempt
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enterprise; assiduous or persistent activity
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