early 14c., "the defeat of an adversary;" mid-14c., "subjugation or conquering by an armed force," from Old French conquest "acquisition" (Modern French conquêt), and Old French conqueste "conquest, acquisition" (Modern French conquête), also from Medieval Latin conquistus, conquista, all ultimately from the past participle of Vulgar Latin *conquaerere "to search for, procure by effort, win" (see conquer).

The noun 'conquest' is derived from the verb 'conquer' and shares its etymological origins in the Latin word 'conquēstus,' which is formed from 'conquērere,' a combination of 'con-' meaning 'completely' and 'quērere' meaning 'to seek' or 'to obtain.'

conquer (v.) c. 1200, cunquearen, "to achieve" (a task), from Old French conquerre "conquer, defeat, vanquish," from Vulgar Latin *conquaerere (for Latin conquirere) "to search for, procure by effort, win," from assimilated form of Latin com-, here perhaps an intensive prefix (see com-), + quaerere "to seek, gain" (see query (v.)).

Origin of conquest 1 C13: from Old French conqueste, from Vulgar Latin conquēsta (unattested), from Latin conquīsīta, feminine past participle of conquīrere to seek out, procure; see conquer