Archaic KJV Word
Conquer
Modern equivalent: win by force
What Was Lost
The love-powered victory. 'More than conquerors through him that loved us' was not triumphalism but a declaration that no suffering -- not death, not life, not angels, not principalities -- could defeat those held by Christ's love. The conquering was achieved not through force but through unbreakable love in the midst of tribulation.
Closest Survivor in Modern English
'more than conquerors' (still used from Romans 8 but the love-powered, suffering-context victory is often missed)
Peak Usage (1611)
KJV Romans 8:37 -- 'In all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us'; Revelation 6:2 -- 'He went forth conquering, and to conquer'
Died still used but de-spiritualized (~1800)
Greek hypernikao ('to super-conquer/to be overwhelmingly victorious/to win so decisively the battle was never in doubt') de-spiritualized from divine-empowered triumph to human military aggression.
What Replaced It
“defeat”
Neutral outcome; hypernikao was overwhelming, more-than-sufficient victory
“win”
Generic; hypernikao meant 'super-conquer' -- beyond normal victory into total, devastating triumph
“dominate”
Power-based; the biblical conquering was through love -- 'through him that loved us'