Log in or Sign up
convince love

convince

Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To cause (someone) by the use of argument or evidence to believe something or to take a course of action. synonym: persuade.
  • transitive verb To prove to be wrong or guilty.
  • transitive verb To conquer; overpower.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To persuade or satisfy by argument or evidence; cause to believe in the truth of what is alleged; gain the credence of: as, to convince a man of his errors, or to convince him of the truth.
  • To evince; demonstrate; prove.
  • To refute; show to be wrong.
  • To overpower; conquer; vanquish.
  • To convict; prove or find guilty.
  • Synonyms Convince, Persuade. To convince a person is to satisfy his understanding as to the truth of a certain statement; to persuade him is, by derivation, to affect his will by motives; but it has long been used also for convince, as in Luke xx. 6, “they be persuaded that John was a prophet.” There is a marked tendency now to confine persuade to its own distinctive meaning.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb obsolete To overpower; to overcome; to subdue or master.
  • transitive verb To overcome by argument; to force to yield assent to truth; to satisfy by proof.
  • transitive verb obsolete To confute; to prove the fallacy of.
  • transitive verb obsolete To prove guilty; to convict.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb To make someone believe, or feel sure about something, especially by using logic, argument or evidence.
  • verb obsolete, transitive To overcome, conquer, vanquish.
  • verb obsolete, transitive To confute; to prove wrong.
  • verb obsolete, transitive To prove guilty; to convict.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb make (someone) agree, understand, or realize the truth or validity of something

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin convincere, to prove wrong : com-, intensive pref.; see com– + vincere, to conquer; see weik- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin convincere ("to refute, prove"), from con- + vincō ("to conquer, to vanquish").

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word convince.

Examples

  • I. vii.64 (432,5) Will I with wine and wassel so convince] To _convince_ is in Shakespeare to _overpower_ or _subdue_, as in this play,

    Notes to Shakespeare, Volume III: The Tragedies Samuel Johnson 1746

  • An illusion that won't convince is a palpable lie, and that's what grand opera is to me when little Barillo throws a fit, clutches mighty Tetralani in his arms (also in a fit), and tells her how passionately he adores her.

    Chapter 24 2010

  • I was sure I could never again convince anyone that my IQ was actually higher than the room temperature.

    Insecurities of a sleepless crazy lady. « A Bird’s Nest 2008

  • Sometimes the hardest person to convince is myself.

    Zen Power Writing: 15 Tips on How to Generate Ideas and Write with Ease | Write to Done 2008

  • An illusion that won't convince is a palpable lie, and that's what grand opera is to me when little Barillo throws a fit, clutches mighty Tetralani in his arms (also in a fit), and tells her how passionately he adores her.

    Chapter 24 1908

  • But convict or convince is the thing intended; and as the one expresses the work of the Spirit on the unbelieving portion of mankind, and the other on the believing, it is better not to restrict it to either.

    Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible 1871

  • As if he had said, "O ye Corinthians, to whom I am now writing, I would fain convince you how well I love you: we are desirous to promote the spiritual and eternal welfare of all to whom we preach, yet our mouth is open unto you, and our heart is enlarged unto you, in a special manner."

    Commentary on the Whole Bible Volume VI (Acts to Revelation) 1721

  • Additionally, please post more horse ***** by this ***** who tried to convince us that the English words sun and son have had shared literal meanings among languages where the phonetics of the two words were completely ***** different.

    Original Signal - Transmitting Digg 2009

  • We cannot let Dr. Griffin convince us that even if we don’t like her style she’s the only one who can change things, because clearly things are getting worse, not better.

    Mayor Blames School Board Chair at cvillenews.com 2005

  • Proving himself a regular in a side that hopes to challenge for Champions League qualification and, ultimately, the title should convince the winger that he can also flourish at international level.

    Stewart Downing on England: 'I don't want to be making up the numbers' 2011

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.