nisus

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: ni=sus

CIDE DICTIONARY

nisus, n. [L., fr. niti, p. p. nisus, to strive.].

•  A striving; an effort; a conatus.  [1913 Webster]

  "A nisus or energizing towards a presented object."  [1913 Webster]
•  The periodic procreative desire manifested in the spring by birds, etc.  [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

ROGET THESAURUS

nisus

Tendency

N tendency, aptness, aptitude, proneness, proclivity, bent, turn, tone, bias, set, leaning to, predisposition, inclination, propensity, susceptibility, conatus, nisus, liability, quality, nature, temperament, idiocrasy, idiosyncrasy, cast, vein, grain, humor, mood, drift, conduciveness, conducement, applicability, subservience, tending, conducive, working towards, in a fair way to, calculated to, liable, subservient, useful, subsidiary, for, whither.