Etymograph

English

conative

Conative comes from Latin conatio ‘an act of attempting’, and goes back to Proto-Italic *kōnāje/o-.

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kōnāje/o-1reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcōnor2‘to attempt, try’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEconatio3‘an act of attempting’
  4. Englishtodayconative3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin conor
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin conatio
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English conative

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kōnāje/o-Wiktionary, Latin conorreconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcōnorWiktionary, Latin conatio‘to attempt, try’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEconatioWiktionary, English conative‘an act of attempting’
  4. EnglishtodayconativeWiktionary, English conative

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ken- ‘to set oneself in motion’

recent, nod, nosh, incinerate, recency, cinerea, nookie, 19 more

Today it means

adj Of or pertaining to a striving action.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “conative”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin conor, Latin conatio. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Italic *kōnāje/o- / conative

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