ambitious

Pronunciation

• IPA: /æmˈbɪʃ.əs/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English ambicious,^[2][3] borrowed from Latin ambitiōsus (“eager for public office, eager to win favour”),^[2][3][4] perhaps partly through Old French ambitieux,^[4] from ambitiō (“a going around to canvass votes”) (see ambition), from ambiō (“to go around”), from amb- (“around”) and eō (“to go”).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Full of ambition, thirsting after honour or advancement: 1382 in the OED; in Etymonline the first sense, in the late 14th century, is craving or yearning.^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

Strongly desirous of something that brings credit is from 1513,^[5] and figuratively rising or towering from 1601.^[5] Of works of art, showing aspiration, it is from 1751.^[5][2] Two senses are obsolete: an ambitious man (about 1430), and circuitous, a Latinism of 1656.^[5]

Timeline

• 1382 – full of ambition.^[5]
• c. 1430 – an ambitious man (obsolete).^[5]
• 1513 – eager for something.^[5]
• 1601 – towering (figurative).^[5]
• 1751 – of works of art.^[5][2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Having a strong desire for success, power or wealth.
2. Greatly desirous; eager, often with of or to.
3. Needing great effort or ability; challenging: an ambitious project.

Word family

• ambitiously
• ambitiousness
• superambitious
• overambitious

Related words

• ambition
• ambient
• ambit

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 f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press