Link Centre Dictionary

endeavor

en·dea·vor

UK/ɪnˈdɛv.ə/ US/ɛnˈdɛv.ɚ/ uncommon obsolete us
noun (2) verb (1)

noun

1.

a purposeful or industrious undertaking (especially one that requires effort or boldness)

  • “he had doubts about the whole enterprise”
Synonyms
2.

earnest and conscientious activity intended to do or accomplish something

  • “made an effort to cover all the reading material”
  • “wished him luck in his endeavor”
  • “she gave it a good try”
Synonyms

verb

1.

attempt by employing effort

  • “we endeavor to make our customers happy”
Synonyms

Origin

The verb is from Middle English endeveren (“to make an effort”); the noun is from Middle English endevour, from the verb. Endeveren is from (putten) in dever (“(to put oneself) in duty”), from in + dever (“duty”), partially translating Middle French (se mettre) en devoir (de faire) (“(to make it) one's duty (to do), to endeavour (to do)”) (from Old French devoir, deveir (“duty”)).

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.