English
conquest
Conquest comes from Latin conquirō ‘to seek for, hunt up, search out eagerly or…’, and goes back to quaerō.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquaerō‘to seek, look for’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEconquirō‘to seek for, hunt up, search out eagerly or carefully, go in quest of’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEconquīsītus
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400conqueste
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500conquest‘a conquest or invasion’
- Englishearliest quotation 1599conquest
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquaerō‘to seek, look for’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEconquirō‘to seek for, hunt up, search out eagerly or carefully, go in quest of’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEconquīsītus
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400conqueste
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500conquest‘a conquest or invasion’
- Englishearliest quotation 1599conquest
Earliest quotation: 1599, The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar: “Wherefore rejoice? What conquest brings he home?”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *kʷeh₂- ‘to acquire’
through Latin quaerō ‘to seek, look for’
acquisition, inquiry, exquisite, query, requisite, enquiry, inquire, inquisition, questionnaire, inquisitor, 12 more
Today it means
noun An act or instance of achieving victory through combat; the subjugation of an enemy.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin quaerō / conquest