co•na•tion

Pronunciation: kO-'nA-sh?n
Function: noun
Etymology: Latin conation-, conatio act of attempting, from conari to attempt

: an inclination (as an instinct, a drive, a wish, or a craving) to act purposefully
- co•na•tive /'kO-n?-tiv, 'k?-, 'kO-nA-/ adjective

Cited from the Merriam-Webster Dictionary.

 

Peter Mark Roget (1779-1869)
Roget was an English physician and lexicographer. For 50 years while he practiced medicine and was secretary of the Royal Society (1827-49), Roget prepared his Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases (1852). In successive editions supervised by him, his son, his grandson, and others, it has remained a standard reference book.

See how Roget classified Conation:
Click here to view scanned pages of his original 1911 edition.
Click here to view an online sample of conation in his 1911 edition.

(online Roget made available by the ARTFL project by Mark Olsen, University of Chicago.)

Ancient Examples of Conation
Bibliography - Education and Learning
Conation - A Bibliography by Topic with keywords