NISUS • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Nisus

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noun

Nisus n.

A striving; an effort; a conatus. "A nisus or energizing towards a presented object."

(Physiol.)

(a)

The periodic procreative desire manifested in the spring by birds, etc.

(b)

The contraction of the diaphragm and abdominal muscles to evacuate feces or urine.

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Etymology of 'Nisus'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Nisus" Quotes from Famous Books

... them; notwithstanding the numerous actions they commit to displease their associates; the self love of each individual, persuades him, that his death must he an interesting occurrence: few men but think themselves an Euryalus in friendship, all expect to find a Nisus, thus man's over-weening philauty shews him to say thus the order of things are overturned at his decease. O mortal! feeble and vain! Dost thou not know the Sesostris's, the Alexanders, the Caesars are dead? Yet the ...

— The System of Nature, Vol. 1 • Baron D'Holbach

... been given, the racers darted off like lightning. Nisus quickly took the lead springing far away ahead of the rest. Next, but at a long distance came Salius, and after him Euryalus, followed by Elymus, with Diores close by his side. Nisus would have reached the goal first, but just as he ...

— Story of Aeneas • Michael Clarke

... truism, and showed that it teemed with consequences. Out of this position—That in the ground which limited human food lay the ground which limited human increase—united with this other position—That there is a perpetual nisus in the principle of population to pass that limit, he unfolded a body of most important corollaries. I have remarked in another article on this subject—how entirely these corollaries had escaped all Mr. Malthus's[26] predecessors in the ...

— The Uncollected Writings of Thomas de Quincey—Vol. 1 - With a Preface and Annotations by James Hogg • Thomas de Quincey

... the daughter of Nisus, king of Megara, who conceived a violent passion for Minos when he was besieging her father's capital. To ensure the fall of the city, she cut off from her father's head, whilst he slept, a hair of purple colour, on which his good fortune depended, and presented it to her lover. Possessed of ...

— The Mysteries of All Nations • James Grant

Words linked to "Nisus" : attempt, try, pains, jehad, jihad, endeavour, endeavor, striving, effort