conquest
verbEtymology Inherited from Middle English conquest, borrowed from Old French conqueste.
conquest
nounUK /ˈkɒŋkwɛst/ · US /ˈkɑnkwɛst/
Etymology Inherited from Middle English conquest, borrowed from Old French conqueste.
1
An act or instance of achieving victory through combat; the subjugation of an enemy.
- Alexander the Great's conquest of the Persians
2
Broadly, Figuratively, Often An act or instance of gaining control of or mastery over something, overcoming obstacles.
- Mankind's conquest of space
- Three years sufficed for the conquest of the country.1843, William H[ickling] Prescott, History of the Conquest of Mexico, […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), New York, N.Y.: Harper and Brothers, […], →OCLC:
2 more examples
- The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much.1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 194:
- Therefore, this dream of the human conquest of selfishness appeared devoid of any strong sense of the necessity of internal struggle to overcome it2002, Merle Goldman, Leo Ou-fan Lee, An intellectual history of modern China, →ISBN, page 21:
3
That which is conquered; possession gained by mental or physical effort, force, or struggle.
- Wherefore rejoice? What conquest brings he home?1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:
4
Obsolete The acquiring of property by other means than by inheritance; acquisition.
- What we call purchase, perquisitio, the feudists called conquest, conqucestus, or conquisitio1765–1769, William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England, (please specify |book=I to IV), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, →OCLC:
5
Colloquial, Figuratively A person whose romantic affections one has gained, or with whom one has had sex, or the act of gaining another's romantic affections.
- And, crowning glory of the evening! a conquest was made, a conquest so sudden, so brilliant, and so obvious, that it was enough to give any fête at which it occurred the immortality of a season.1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “Chapter XVIII. The Fête.”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 134:
6
Video games A competitive mode found in first-person shooter games in which competing teams (usually two) attempt to take over predetermined spawn points labeled by flags.
- Derived terms
- anticonquest, conquest sale, counterconquest, Norman Conquest, postconquest, preconquest, reconquest, war of conquest