NISUS  
[nahy-suhs]
noun an effort or striving toward a particular goal or
attainment; impulse.
QUOTES
The accumulation of wealth into a few hands is the nisus of all bad governments …
— “Ireland in 1832,” The Metropolitan, Vol. 5, No. 18, October 1832
ORIGIN
The rare noun nisus, a technical word used in various branches of philosophy and theology, comes directly from Latin nīsus, a derivative of the verb nītī and meaning “a resting of one’s weight on the ground, planting one’s feet firmly, a strong muscular effort, pressure (of forces), an endeavor, strong effort.” Nisus in the sense “effort” first appears at the end of the 17th century in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. In later usage nisus simply means “impulse.”

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