ambition

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.

noun

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 son, John, wants to be a firefighter very much. He has a lot of ambition.
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.

verb

1. To seek after ambitiously or eagerly; to covet.
   Pausanias, ambitioning the sovereignty of Greece, bargains with Xerxes for his daughter in marriage. 1746, C Turnbull, The Histories Of Marcus Junianus Justinus