Conation

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /kəʊˈneɪ.ʃən/

Definitions

1. This term signifies the willful determination to act purposefully towards achieving specific goals and intentions
2. The concept refers to the mental faculty driving purposeful actions aimed at fulfilling specific desires and objectives
3. It denotes the aspect of the mind responsible for goal-directed activities and the volition to act towards desired outcomes

Etymology: Conation is a learned borrowing, meaning English took it directly from Latin "cōnātiō," which meant "an act of attempting." The Latin word grew from "cōnor," "to try, to attempt," and the ancient root behind it is the same stem that shows up in many verbs of effort. The English word kept that core idea of striving toward a goal, but it was narrowed by psychologists into a technical term for the part of the mind that drives us to act on what we want. That narrowing is the real story here. In Latin, "cōnātiō" described any attempt, a trying of something, with no special claim about the mind at all. English speakers reached for it when they needed a precise name for willing as a distinct faculty, separate from thinking and feeling, which is why the word still sounds more like a philosopher's term than an everyday one.

Synonyms: will, intent

Antonyms: apathy, indifference