Lewis & Short

Parsing inflected forms may not always work as expected. If the following does not give the correct word, try Latin Words or Perseus.

cōnātus, ūs, m. [conor].

  1. I. Abstr., an effort, exertion, struggle, endeavor: ue ista hercle magno jam conatu magnas nugas dixerit, Ter. Heaut. 4, 1, 8: quo majore conatu studioque aguntur, Cic. Quint. 14, 47: omnem sui tribunatus conatum in meam perniciem parare, id. Fam. 5, 2, 6: Genucius ad hostes magno conatu profectus, Liv. 7, 6, 9: in ipso conatu rerum circumegit se annus, i. e. just as the affair was well begun, id. 9, 18, 15 Weissenb. ad loc.: vixdum inchoatis rebus in ipso conatu gerendi belli, id. 32, 28, 4.
    1. B. Trop., an impulse, inclination, tendency: dedit natura beluis et sensum et appetitum, ut altero conatum haberent ad naturales pastus capessendos, altero secernerent, etc., Cic. N. D. 2, 47, 122: nulla est ullo in genere laus orationis, cujus in nostris orationibus non sit aliqua si non perfectio, at conatus tamen atque adumbratio, id. Or. 29, 103: se ad hostes contulit conatumque iracundiae suae morte sedavit, id. Brut. 10, 42.
  2. II. Concr., an attempt, effort, undertaking, enterprise, endeavor.
          1. (α) Sing.: alii, si perrumpere possent conatitelis repulsi hoc conatu destiterunt, Caes. B. G. 1, 8 fin.: principem esse ad conatum exercitus conparandi, Cic. Phil. 10, 11, 24: hac ego religione non sum ab hoc conatu repulsus, id. Or. 11, 36: si in me impetum facere conabiturejus conatum refutabo, id. Har. Resp. 4, 7: Icarus primo statim conatu decidit, Suet. Ner. 12: a conatu resistendi deterritus se dedidit, Nep. Dat. 4, 5.
          2. (β) Plur.: compressi tuos nefarios conatus, Cic. Cat. 1, 5, 11: perditi, id. Off. 1, 30, 109: quod conatus adversariorum infregissent, Caes. B, G. 2, 21: aut opprimet hominem aut omnis ejus motus conatusque prohibebit, Cic. Cat. 2, 12, 26: multis frustra conatibus captis, Liv. 3, 5, 6; 9, 4, 1; 21, 29, 5: conatibus alicujus accedere, Suet. Oth. 4: in mediis conatibus aegri Succidimus, Verg. A. 12, 910: obstare conatibus nostris, Ov. R. Am. 683; Auct. B. Alex. 9; cf.: optimi et clarissimi, Cic. Fam. 12, 10, 2: generosi, Quint. 2, 4, 4: crebri parvique, id. 8, 5, 29: ingentes adversus Germaniam, Tac. Agr. 13: vibrare nudis conatibus hastam, Sil. 13, 161: conatus alicujus supra vires, Scrib. Comp. 101.

cōnor, ātus, 1, v. dep., to undertake, endeavor, attempt, try, venture, presume, etc. (freq. and class.; syn. molior, Ter. Heaut. 2, 2, 11; opp. facere, Cic. Rosc. Am. 19, 54; opp. perficere, id. Or. 30, 105); constr. with acc., inf., rarely with abl. of the gerund., or absol.

        1. (α) With acc. (mostly of indef. objects): quicquam fallaciae, Ter. And. 1, 2, 26: istuc, id. ib. 1, 5, 35: idem, Caes. B. G. 1, 3: opus magnum et arduum, Cic. Or. 10, 33: id quod conantur, id. Cat. 2, 9, 19: multa, id. Or. 30, 105; id. Fin. 1, 16, 82: tantum scelus, id. Fragm. ap. Quint. 5, 13, 30; cf.: tantam rem, Liv. 42, 59, 8: muita stulte, Nep. Hann. 8, 3; Quint. 2, 4, 10: plurima frustra, Verg. A. 9, 398.
        2. (β) With inf. (freq.): hoc dicere, Cic. Quint. 20, 62: aliquid facere, id. Rosc. Am. 19, 54: me labefactare, id. Div. in Caecil. 14, 44: poëtas attingere, id. de Or. 2, 14, 61: versus pangere, Lucr. 1, 26: pueris absinthia dare, id. 1, 936; 4, 12 al.: facere id quod constituerant, Caes. B. G. 1, 5: invito transire, id. ib. 1, 8: tela mittere, Cat. 116, 3; Hor. C. 1, 6, 9; id. Ep. 1, 1, 19.
        3. * (γ) With abl. gerundii: ne frustra dehortando impedire conemini, that you attempt not vainly to dissuade, Nep. Att. 21, 6.
        4. (δ) With si: saepius noctu, si perrumpere possent, conati, Caes. B. G. 1, 8, 4.
          (ε) Absol.: dum moliuntur (mulieres), dum conantur, annus est, Ter. Heaut. 2, 2, 11: conari manibus pedibus noctisque et dies, id. And. 4, 1, 52: conantibus, priusquam id effici posset, adesse Romanos nuntiatur, Caes. B. G. 6, 4: qui prius cogitare quam conari consuesset, before he proceeded to the undertaking, Nep. Dat. 7, 1: ego obviam conabar tibi, Ter. Phorm. 1, 2, 2: audax ad conandum, Liv. 45, 23, 15.
      1. b. Hence, subst.: cōnāta, ōrum, n., in pass. signif., an undertaking, attempt, venture, hazard (class.), Att. ap. Non. p. 202, 14; Plaut. Merc. 1, 1, 39; Lucr. 5, 386; Caes. B. G. 1, 3; Nep. Dion, 8, 5; Liv. 21, 50, 9; 42, 11, 3; Quint. 8, 3, 69; Suet. Galb. 17; Ov. M. 10, 420; 14, 755 sq.; Juv. 13, 210; Vell. 2, 35, 5 et saep.