Etymologically
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ambition

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /æmˈbɪʃ.ən/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English ambicioun, borrowed from Old French ambicion or directly Latin ambitiō (“a going round, canvassing for votes”),[2][3][4][5][6] from ambiō (“to go around”) (see ambient), from amb- (“around”) and eō (“to go”).[2][3][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

An ardent, in early use inordinate, desire for honour or advancement: 1340, in the Ayenbite of Inwyt.[2][8][3]

Semantic evolution

The sense developed in Latin from candidates in Rome going round to canvass votes, to a striving for favour, and then to a desire for fame.[2][3][7] In early English use it was always unfavourable, grouped with pride and vainglory.[3] Ostentation is an obsolete sense of 1382, and canvassing for honours of 1531.[8] A strong desire for anything good is from 1607, and the object of such a desire from 1602.[8] An obsolete verb, to make ambitious, is from before 1628.[8] In Irish and American dialect to ambition something was to aspire to it.[9]

Timeline

  • 1340 – a desire for honour.[2][8]
  • 1382 – ostentation (obsolete).[8]
  • 1602 – the object of desire.[8]
  • 1607 – any strong desire.[8]
  • before 1628 – to ambition (verb).[8]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A strong desire to achieve something, such as success, power or fame.
  2. The goal or object desired.
  3. Desire for activity; energy.

Word family

  • ambitionless
  • ambitionlessly

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)