ambition

See also: Ambition

English

Etymology

From Middle English ambicioun, from Old French ambition, from Latin ambitiō (“ambition, a striving for favor, literally 'a going around', especially of candidates for office in Rome soliciting votes”), from ambiō (“I go around, solicit votes”). See ambient, issue.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /æmˈbɪʃ.ən/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• (Indic) IPA^(key): /ˈambɪʃən/

Noun

ambition (countable and uncountable, plural ambitions)

1. (uncountable, countable) Eager or inordinate desire for some object that confers distinction, as preferment, honor, superiority, political power, or fame; desire to distinguish one's self from other people.

   My daughter, Johanna, wants to be a firefighter very much. She has a lot of ambition.

   • a. 1627 (date written), Francis Bacon, chapter VII, in James Spedding, editor, The Works of Francis Bacon, […]: The Letters and the Life of Francis Bacon […], volume IV, London: Longmans, Green, Reader, and Dyer, published 1858, →OCLC, page 270:

     The third part of practice hath divers branches, but one principal root in these our times, which is the vast and overspreading ambition and usurpation of the see of Rome; […]

   • 1756, [Edmund Burke], A Vindication of Natural Society: Or, A View of the Miseries and Evils Arising to Mankind from Every Species of Artificial Society. […], London: […] M. Cooper […], →OCLC, page 20:

     One is aſtoniſhed hovv ſuch a ſmall ſpot could furniſh Men ſufficient to ſacrifice to the pitiful Ambition of poſſeſſing five or ſix thouſand more Acres, or tvvo or three more Villages: […]

2. (countable) An object of an ardent desire.

   My ambition is to own a helicopter.

3. A desire, as in (sense 1), for another person to achieve these things.
4. (uncountable) A personal quality similar to motivation, not necessarily tied to a single goal.
5. (obsolete) The act of going about to solicit or obtain an office, or any other object of desire; canvassing.
   • 1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […].”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, page 22:

     I on th' other ſide / Us'd no ambition to commend my deeds, […]

Derived terms

• ambitionate
• ambitionize
• ambitionless
• nonambition
• overambition
• unambition
• underambition

Related terms

• ambience
• ambient
• ambit
• ambitious
• ambitionist

Translations

desire

Arabic: مَطْمَح m (maṭmaḥ) Armenian: փառասիրություն (hy) (pʻaṙasirutʻyun) Belarusian: амбі́цыя f (ambícyja) Bulgarian: амби́ция (bg) f (ambícija), честолю́бие (bg) n (čestoljúbie) Catalan: ambició (ca) f Cebuano: ambisyon, tinguha Chinese: Mandarin: 奢望 (zh) (shēwàng), 抱負 / 抱负 (zh) (bàofù), 志向 (zh) (zhìxiang), 志氣 / 志气 (zh) (zhìqì) Czech: ctižádost (cs) f, ambice (cs) f pl Danish: ambition c Dutch: eerzucht (nl) m or f, ambitie (nl) f Esperanto: gloramo, ambicio Finnish: kunnianhimo (fi) (to distinguish) French: ambition (fr) f Galician: ambición (gl) f German: Ehrgeiz (de) m Greek: φιλοδοξία (el) (filodoxía) Hungarian: ambíció (hu), becsvágy (hu), nagyravágyás (hu), nagyratörés Icelandic: metnaður (is) m Ilocano: arapaap Indonesian: ambisi (id) Ivatan: kagum Japanese: 野望 (ja) (やぼう, yabō), 野心 (ja) (やしん, yashin) Korean: 야망(野望) (ko) (yamang), 야심(野心) (ko) (yasim) Latin: ambitiō f Latvian: godkāre f Luxembourgish: Éiergäiz m Malay: kesungguhan (ms) Malayalam: അഭിലാഷം (ml) (abhilāṣaṁ), ലക്ഷ്യം (ml) (lakṣyaṁ) Maori: awhero Middle English: ambicioun Persian: اشتیاق (fa) (eštiyâq), خواهش (fa) (xâheš) Plautdietsch: Väanämungsjeist m, Äwanämungsjeist m Polish: ambicja (pl) f Portuguese: ambição (pt) f Russian: амби́ция (ru) f (ambícija) Serbo-Croatian: ambicija (sh) f Spanish: ambición (es) f Sranan Tongo: ambisi Swedish: ambition (sv) c Ukrainian: амбі́ція (uk) f (ambícija)

object of desire

Catalan: ambició (ca) f Chinese: Mandarin: 志向 (zh) (zhìxiàng) Czech: ctižádost (cs) f, ambice (cs) f Finnish: intohimo (fi) Hungarian: cél (hu), vágy (hu) Malayalam: അഭിലാഷം (ml) (abhilāṣaṁ) Maori: hemonga Persian: آرزو (fa) (ârezu) Portuguese: ambição (pt) f Russian: цель (ru) f (celʹ), мечта́ (ru) f (mečtá) Spanish: ambición (es) f

desire for another person to achieve these things

Spanish: ambición (es) f

personal quality

Belarusian: славалю́бства n (slavaljúbstva), амбі́цыя f (ambícyja) Catalan: ambició (ca) f Chinese: Mandarin: 奢望 (zh) (shēwàng) Czech: ctižádost (cs) f Finnish: aloitekyky Gallurese: giuditzia Hungarian: ambíció (hu), igyekezet (hu), törekvés (hu) Italian: ambizione (it) Japanese: 野望 (ja) (やぼう, yabō), 野心 (ja) (やしん, yashin) Malayalam: ലക്ഷ്യം (ml) (lakṣyaṁ) Persian: اشتیاق (fa) (eštiyâq) Plautdietsch: Väanämungsjeist m Polish: ambicja (pl) f Portuguese: ambição (pt) f Russian: амби́ция (ru) f (ambícija), честолю́бие (ru) n (čestoljúbije) Sardinian: Campidanese: ambitzione Logudorese: ambitzione Sassarese: ambizioni Spanish: ambición (es) f Ukrainian: амбі́ція (uk) f (ambícija), честолю́бство n (čestoljúbstvo)

act of going about to solicit or obtain an object of desire

Armenian: փառասիրություն (hy) (pʻaṙasirutʻyun) Finnish: yritys (fi), pyrkimys (fi)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Chinese: Mandarin: (please verify) 野心 (zh) (yěxīn), (please verify) 雄心 (zh) (xióngxīn), (please verify) 志氣 / 志气 (zh) (zhìqi), (please verify) 志向 (zh) (zhìxiang), (please verify) 抱負 / 抱负 (zh) (bàofù) French: (please verify) ambition (fr) f (1-5) Georgian: (please verify) პატივმოყვარეობა (ṗaṭivmoq̇vareoba) German: (please verify) Ehrgeiz (de) m, (please verify) Ambition (de) f (5) Italian: (please verify) ambizione (it) f (1-4) Luxembourgish: (please verify) Ambitioun f Maltese: (please verify) ambizzjoni f Serbo-Croatian: (please verify) àmbīcija (sh) f, (please verify) prègalāštvo (sh) n Serbo-Croatian: (please verify) častoljublje (sh) n Swedish: (please verify) ambition (sv) c (1)

Verb

ambition (third-person singular simple present ambitions, present participle ambitioning, simple past and past participle ambitioned)

1. To seek after ambitiously or eagerly; to covet.
   • 1746, C Turnbull, The Histories Of Marcus Junianus Justinus:

     Pausanias, ambitioning the sovereignty of Greece, bargains with Xerxes for his daughter in marriage.

Further reading

• “ambition”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “ambition”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

Danish

Noun

ambition c

1. ambition

Declension

Declension of ambition

gender	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	ambition	ambitionen	ambitioner	ambitionerne
genitive	ambitions	ambitionens	ambitioners	ambitionernes

Related terms

• ambitiøs

Further reading

• “ambition” in Den Danske Ordbog
• “ambition” in Ordbog over det danske Sprog

Finnish

Noun

ambition

1. genitive singular of ambitio

French

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin ambitiōnem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɑ̃.bi.sjɔ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (Switzerland (Valais)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Saint-Étienne)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

Noun

ambition f (plural ambitions)

1. ambition (feeling)

Derived terms

• ambitionner

Related terms

• ambitieux

Further reading

• “ambition”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Swedish

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

ambition c

1. ambition

Declension

Declension of ambition

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	ambition	ambitions
	definite	ambitionen	ambitionens
plural	indefinite	ambitioner	ambitioners
	definite	ambitionerna	ambitionernas

Related terms

• ambitiös

References

• ambition in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• ambition in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• ambition in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)