AMBITION

ambition, ambitiousness

(noun) a strong drive for success

ambition, aspiration, dream

(noun) a cherished desire; “his ambition is to own his own business”

ambition

(verb) have as one’s ambition

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

ambition (countable and uncountable, plural ambitions)

(uncountable, countable) Eager or inordinate desire for some object that confers distinction, as preferment, honor, superiority, political power, or literary fame; desire to distinguish one's self from other people.

(countable) An object of an ardent desire.

A desire, as in (sense 1), for another person to achieve these things.

(uncountable) A personal quality similar to motivation, not necessarily tied to a single goal.

(obsolete) The act of going about to solicit or obtain an office, or any other object of desire; canvassing.

Verb

ambition (third-person singular simple present ambitions, present participle ambitioning, simple past and past participle ambitioned)

To seek after ambitiously or eagerly; to covet.

Source: Wiktionary


Am*bi"tion, n. Etym: [F. ambition, L. ambitio a going around, especially of candidates for office is Rome, to solicit votes (hence, desire for office or honorambire to go around. See Ambient, Issue.]

1. The act of going about to solicit or obtain an office, or any other object of desire; canvassing. [Obs.] [I] used no ambition to commend my deeds. Milton.

2. An eager, and sometimes an inordinate, desire for preferment, honor, superiority, power, or the attainment of something. Cromwell, I charge thee, fling a way ambition: By that sin fell the angels. Shak. The pitiful ambition of possessing five or six thousand more acres. Burke.

Am*bi"tion, v. t. Etym: [Cf. F. ambitionner.]

Definition: To seek after ambitiously or eagerly; to covet. [R.] Pausanias, ambitioning the sovereignty of Greece, bargains with Xerxes for his daughter in marriage. Trumbull.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

4 February 2025

DISKETTE

(noun) a small plastic magnetic disk enclosed in a stiff envelope with a radial slit; used to store data or programs for a microcomputer; “floppy disks are noted for their relatively slow speed and small capacity and low price”


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Coffee Trivia

The word “coffee” entered the English language in 1582 via the Dutch “koffie,” borrowed from the Ottoman Turkish “kahve,” borrowed in turn from the Arabic “qahwah.” The Arabic word qahwah was traditionally held to refer to a type of wine.

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