Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The act or process of conquering.
  • noun Something, such as territory, acquired by conquering.
  • noun A person or group whose affection or admiration has been gained.
  • noun A person who has been seduced by another.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To conquer.
  • noun The act of conquering; the act of overcoming or vanquishing opposition by force of any kind, but especially by force of arms; victory.
  • noun The act of acquiring or gaining control of by force; acquisition by military or other conflict; subjugation by any means; as, the conquest of Persia by Alexander the Great; the conquest of a nation's liberties, or of one's passions.
  • noun Specifically— The act of gaining or captivating the affections or favor of another or others.
  • noun That which is conquered; a possession gained by force, physical or moral.
  • noun In feudal law, acquest; acquisition; the acquiring of property by other means than by inheritance, or the acquisition of property by a number in community or by one for all the others.
  • noun In Scots law, heritable property acquired in any other way than by heritage, as by purchase, donation, etc.; or, with reference to a marriage contract, heritable property subsequently acquired.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The act or process of conquering, or acquiring by force; the act of overcoming or subduing opposition by force, whether physical or moral; subjection; subjugation; victory.
  • noun That which is conquered; possession gained by force, physical or moral.
  • noun (Feudal Law) The acquiring of property by other means than by inheritance; acquisition.
  • noun The act of gaining or regaining by successful struggle.
  • noun (Eng. Hist.) the subjugation of England by William of Normandy in 1066. The Norman Conquest.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Victory gained through combat; the subjugation of an enemy.
  • noun figuratively An act or instance of overcoming an obstacle.
  • noun colloquial A person with whom one has had sex.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun success in mastering something difficult
  • noun the act of conquering
  • noun an act of winning the love or sexual favor of someone

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old French, from Vulgar Latin *conquaesīta, feminine past participle of *conquaerere, to conquer; see conquer.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Old French conqueste (Modern French conquête).

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word conquest.

Examples

  • The prevailing (54) _passion_ of the A burning thirst for conquest is nation is the (54) _love of as prevalent a passion in Russia conquest_, and this (54) _ardent_ as democratic ambition in the free

    How to Write Clearly Rules and Exercises on English Composition Edwin A. Abbott

  • The weapon employed in the conquest is an "umbrella spoon" shown at left, which automatically opens into a large shield when you gouge down into the meat of the fruit.

    Boing Boing: July 9, 2006 - July 15, 2006 Archives 2006

  • He ran to earth a couple of needy artists, lured them into the company to play small parts -- apothecaries and notaries -- and set them to beguile their leisure in painting new scenery, so as to be ready for what he called the conquest of Nantes, which was to come in the new year.

    Scaramouche Rafael Sabatini 1912

  • We may mean a lifting of the races as a whole by reason of more power over the material world, by reason of what we call the conquest of nature and a practical use of its forces; or we may mean a higher development of the individual man, so that he shall be better and happier.

    The Complete Project Gutenberg Writings of Charles Dudley Warner Charles Dudley Warner 1864

  • We may mean a lifting of the races as a whole by reason of more power over the material world, by reason of what we call the conquest of nature and a practical use of its forces; or we may mean a higher development of the individual man, so that he shall be better and happier.

    Complete Essays Charles Dudley Warner 1864

  • The itch gets a bit personal for Orlich, considering the possibility No. 4 Stockdale (23-3) not only is rolling once again, the Mustangs may get an additional boost in the form of Melissa Sweat, who powered their title conquest of top-seeded Clovis West a year ago.

    Home By Andy Boogaard / The Fresno Bee 2010

  • The itch gets a bit personal for Orlich, considering the possibility No. 4 Stockdale (23-3) not only is rolling once again, the Mustangs may get an additional boost in the form of Melissa Sweat, who powered their title conquest of top-seeded Clovis West a year ago.

    Home 2010

  • Historic movement was for several centuries that of the nations and societies of Western Europe out into the rest of the world in "conquest" of various sorts.

    Martin Luther King - Nobel Lecture 1964

  • The right of conquest, in other words, has ceased to exist.

    Boaz Atzili: The 1967 Borders: No Legal Basis, No Power Basis, but Permanent Boaz Atzili 2011

  • Jimmy Rollins 'prediction of a five-game Philadelphia conquest is off to a promising start.

    Phillies' Lee upstages Steinbrenner's Game 1 visit 2009

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.