Endeavour

How to spell endeavour

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce endeavour

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does endeavour mean?

1. verbTo try hard to achieve something; to make a serious, sustained effort.
2. nounAn attempt or undertaking that requires effort.

Endeavour in a sentence

• verb

  The firm will endeavour to deliver every order within two working days.

• noun

  Launching the charity was a worthwhile endeavour that took years of planning.

• verb

  We endeavour to keep our prices lower than our rivals throughout the year.

• noun

  Restoring the old house proved to be an expensive endeavour.

Where does endeavour come from?

Language of origin: French

This word grew out of the Middle English phrase 'to put oneself in dever', meaning to make something one's duty or to take it upon oneself. The key part is 'devoir', the Old French word for duty or obligation, which descends from the Latin debere, meaning 'to owe'; the same Latin root sits behind 'debt' and 'debit'. By the fifteenth century the phrase had fused into a single verb, 'endeavouren', carrying the idea of dutifully striving to do something. From there the meaning softened from a sense of obligation into the modern sense of making a serious, sustained effort. The British and Canadian spelling keeps the French-flavoured '-our' ending, which is the part that trips up writers, since the American form drops it to 'endeavor'.

How the word is built

• en- (to make, put into)
• devoir (duty, from Latin debere: to owe)
• -our (noun ending)

British and American spelling

Endeavour is the British spelling. American English spells it endeavor.