Endeavor

How to spell endeavor

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce endeavor

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does endeavor mean?

1. verbTo try hard and earnestly to achieve something.
2. nounA serious and determined effort toward a goal.

Endeavor in a sentence

• verb

  The company will endeavor to deliver every order within two days.

• noun

  Launching the small business was a bold endeavor that took years of saving.

• verb

  We endeavor to keep our prices fair for regular customers.

• noun

  The rescue was a joint endeavor between two coastal towns.

Where does endeavor come from?

Language of origin: French

Endeavor comes from the Middle English phrase 'to put oneself in dever', where 'dever' meant 'duty' and traced back to the Old French 'deveir' and ultimately the Latin 'debere', meaning 'to owe' or 'to be bound to'. The little prefix 'en-' carried the sense of 'to put in' or 'to bring about', so 'to put oneself in duty' literally meant to make it one's duty to do something, which softened over time into the modern sense of making a serious effort. The verb appeared in English in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and the noun followed soon after. The same Latin 'debere' root sits inside the everyday words 'debt' and 'due', which is a useful reminder that the heart of an endeavor is an obligation taken on. The American spelling drops the British 'u', so it ends plainly in '-or', and that '-vor' ending (rather than '-ver') is the main thing to watch.

How the word is built

• en- (to make, put in)
• deavor (from Old French deveir: duty, from Latin debere: to owe)

British and American spelling

Endeavor is the American spelling. British English spells it endeavour.