conquest

Etymology

From Middle English conquest, from Old French conqueste (French conquête).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒŋkwɛst/, /ˈkɒŋkwəst/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkɑnkwɛst/, /ˈkɑnkwəst/, /ˈkɑŋ-/

• Audio (US):

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Noun

conquest (countable and uncountable, plural conquests)

1. An act or instance of achieving victory through combat; the subjugation of an enemy.

   Alexander the Great's conquest of the Persians

2. (by extension, often figuratively) An act or instance of gaining control of or mastery over something, overcoming obstacles.

   Mankind's conquest of space

   • 1843, William H[ickling] Prescott, History of the Conquest of Mexico, […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), New York, N.Y.: Harper and Brothers, […], →OCLC:

     Three years sufficed for the conquest of the country.

   • 1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 194:

     The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much.

   • 2002, Merle Goldman, Leo Ou-fan Lee, An intellectual history of modern China, →ISBN, page 21:

     Therefore, this dream of the human conquest of selfishness appeared devoid of any strong sense of the necessity of internal struggle to overcome it

3. That which is conquered; possession gained by mental or physical effort, force, or struggle.
   • 1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:

     Wherefore rejoice? What conquest brings he home?

4. (obsolete, feudal law) The acquiring of property by other means than by inheritance; acquisition.
   • 1765–1769, William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England, (please specify |book=I to IV), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, →OCLC:

     What we call purchase, perquisitio, the feudists called conquest, conqucestus, or conquisitio

5. (colloquial, figurative) A person whose romantic affections one has gained, or with whom one has had sex, or the act of gaining another's romantic affections.
   • 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “Chapter XVIII. The Fête.”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 134:

     And, crowning glory of the evening! a conquest was made, a conquest so sudden, so brilliant, and so obvious, that it was enough to give any fête at which it occurred the immortality of a season.

6. (video games) A competitive mode found in first-person shooter games in which competing teams (usually two) attempt to take over predetermined spawn points labeled by flags.

Verb

conquest (third-person singular simple present conquests, present participle conquesting, simple past and past participle conquested)

1. (archaic) To conquer.
2. (marketing) To compete with an established competitor by placing advertisements for one's own products adjacent to editorial content relating to the competitor or by using terms and keywords for one's own products that are currently associated with the competitor.

Alternative forms

• conqueste, quenqueste, conqwest, conqweste

Etymology

From Old French conqueste.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɔnˈkwɛst(ə)/

Noun

conquest (plural conquestes)

1. A conquest or invasion; a forcible takeover.
2. The act of attaining victory or winning.
3. The spoils of war; the fruit of victory.
4. William the Conqueror's invasion of England.
5. (rare) discord, battle, division