Ambition
Etymology
From Latin "ambitio" (a going around), from "ambire" (to go about), from "amb-" (around) and "ire" (to go). It originally described Roman candidates walking around the forum canvassing for votes — literally going around to win favor — so ambition was, from the start, tied to public striving and its whiff of self-promotion.
noun · /am-BISH-un/
A strong desire to achieve success, power, or distinction.
What it names
The engine of striving — morally neutral fuel that can build careers or wreck them, depending on where it is aimed.
Example
Her ambition was specific and quiet: not to be famous, but to solve one hard problem completely.
Related idea
Ambition is the drive toward achievement; avarice is the narrower, uglier hunger for wealth alone, which ambition may or may not include.