persuade - Definitions from Dictionary.com

8 results for: persuade

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

per·suade

Audio Help [per-sweyd] Pronunciation Key

–verb (used with object), -suad·ed, -suad·ing.

1.	to prevail on (a person) to do something, as by advising or urging: We could not persuade him to wait.

2.	to induce to believe by appealing to reason or understanding; convince: to persuade the judge of the prisoner's innocence.

[Origin: 1505–15; < L persuādére. See per-, dissuade, suasion

]

—Related forms

per·suad·a·ble, adjective

per·suad·a·bil·i·ty, per·suad·a·ble·ness, noun

per·suad·a·bly, adverb

per·suad·ing·ly, adverb

—Synonyms 1. urge, influence, move, entice, impel. Persuade, induce imply influencing someone's thoughts or actions. They are used today mainly in the sense of winning over a person to a certain course of action: It was I who persuaded him to call a doctor. I induced him to do it. They differ in that persuade suggests appealing more to the reason and understanding: I persuaded him to go back to his wife (although it is often lightly used: Can't I persuade you to stay to supper?); induce emphasizes only the idea of successful influence, whether achieved by argument or by promise of reward: What can I say that will induce you to stay at your job? Owing to this idea of compensation, induce may be used in reference to the influence of factors as well as of persons: The prospect of a raise in salary was what induced him to stay.

—Antonyms 1. dissuade.

—Usage note See convince.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
persuade

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

per·suade Audio Help (pər-swād') Pronunciation Key
tr.v. per·suad·ed, per·suad·ing, per·suades
To induce to undertake a course of action or embrace a point of view by means of argument, reasoning, or entreaty: "to make children fit to live in a society by persuading them to learn and accept its codes" (Alan W. Watts). See Usage Note at convince.

[Latin persuādēre : per-, per- + suādēre, to urge; see swād- in Indo-European roots.]

per·suad'a·ble adj., per·suad'er n.

Synonyms: These verbs mean to succeed in causing a person to do or consent to something. Persuade means to win someone over, as by reasoning or personal forcefulness: Nothing could persuade her to change her mind.
To induce is to lead, as to a course of action, by means of influence or persuasion: "Pray what could induce him to commit so rash an action?" (Oliver Goldsmith).
One prevails on somebody who resists: "He had prevailed upon the king to spare them" (Daniel Defoe).
To convince is to persuade by the use of argument or evidence: The sales clerk convinced me that the car was worth the price.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

persuade
verb
1.	win approval or support for; "Carry all before one"; "His speech did not sway the voters" [syn: carry]
2.	cause somebody to adopt a certain position, belief, or course of action; twist somebody's arm; "You can't persuade me to buy this ugly vase!" [ant: deter]

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
persuade1 [pəˈsweid] verb

to make (someone) (not) do something, by arguing with him or advising him
Example: We persuaded him (not) to go.

Arabic:	يُقْنِع
Chinese (Simplified):	劝说
Chinese (Traditional):	勸說
Czech:	přemluvit
Danish:	overtale
Dutch:	overhalen
Estonian:	keelitama
Finnish:	suostutella
French:	persuader (de)
German:	überreden
Greek:	πείθω
Hungarian:	rábeszél vkit vmire
Icelandic:	telja e-n á e-ð
Indonesian:	membujuk
Italian:	persuadere

Japanese:	説得する
Korean:	설득하다
Latvian:	pārliecināt; pierunāt
Lithuanian:	įtikinti
Norwegian:	overtale
Polish:	przekonywać
Portuguese (Brazil):	persuadir
Portuguese (Portugal):	aconselhar
Romanian:	a convinge
Russian:	уговаривать; отговаривать
Slovak:	prehovoriť
Slovenian:	pregovoriti
Spanish:	persuadir (de); (negativo) disuadir (de)
Swedish:	övertala
Turkish:	ikna etmek, razı etmek

persuade2 [pəˈsweid] verb

to make (someone) certain (that something is the case); to convince
Example: We eventually persuaded him that we were serious.

Arabic:	يَحْمِلُ على التَّصْديق، يُقْنِع
Chinese (Simplified):	使某人相信
Chinese (Traditional):	使某人相信
Czech:	přesvědčit
Danish:	overbevise
Dutch:	overtuigen
Estonian:	veenma
Finnish:	vakuuttaa
French:	convaincre
German:	überzeugen
Greek:	πείθω
Hungarian:	meggyőz
Icelandic:	sannfæra e-n með
Indonesian:	meyakinkan
Italian:	convincere

Japanese:	納得させる
Korean:	확신시키다
Latvian:	pārliecināt
Lithuanian:	įkalbėti, įtikinti
Norwegian:	overbevise
Polish:	przekonać
Portuguese (Brazil):	persuadir
Portuguese (Portugal):	convencer
Romanian:	a convinge
Russian:	убеждать
Slovak:	presvedčiť
Slovenian:	prepričati
Spanish:	persuadir, convencer
Swedish:	övertyga
Turkish:	inandırmak

See also: persuasion, persuasive

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

persuade

Con*vince"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Convinced; p. pr. & vb. n. Convincing.] [L. convincere, -victum, to refute, prove; con- + vincere to conquer. See Victor, and cf. Convict.]

1. To overpower; to overcome; to subdue or master. [Obs.]

His two chamberlains Will I with wine and wassail so convince That memory, the warder of the brain, Shall be a fume. --Shak.

2. To overcome by argument; to force to yield assent to truth; to satisfy by proof.

Such convincing proofs and assurances of it as might enable them to convince others. --Atterbury.

3. To confute; to prove the fallacy of. [Obs.]

God never wrought miracle to convince atheism, because his ordinary works convince it. --Bacon.

4. To prove guilty; to convict. [Obs.]

Which of you convinceth me of sin? --John viii. 46.

Seek not to convince me of a crime Which I can ne'er repent, nor you can pardon. --Dryden.

Syn: To persuade; satisfy; convict.

Usage: To Convince, persuade. To convince is an act of the understanding; to persuade, of the will or feelings. The one is effected by argument, the other by motives. There are cases, however, in which persuade may seem to be used in reference only to the assent of the understanding; as when we say, I am persuaded it is so; I can not persuade myself of the fact. But in such instances there is usually or always a degree of awakened feeling which has had its share in producing the assent of the understanding.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Persuade

Per*suade"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Persuaded; p. pr. & vb. n. Persuading.] [L. persuadere, persuasum; per + suadere to advise, persuade: cf. F. persuader. See Per-, and Suasion.]

1. To influence or gain over by argument, advice, entreaty, expostulation, etc.; to draw or incline to a determination by presenting sufficient motives.

Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. --Acts xxvi. 28.

We will persuade him, be it possible. --Shak.

2. To try to influence. [Obsolescent]

Hearken not unto Hezekiah, when he persuadeth you. --2 Kings xviii. 32.

3. To convince by argument, or by reasons offered or suggested from reflection, etc.; to cause to believe.

Beloved, we are persuaded better things of you. --Heb. vi. 9.

4. To inculcate by argument or expostulation; to advise; to recommend. --Jer. Taylor.

Syn: To convince; induce; prevail on; win over; allure; entice. See Convince.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Persuade

Per*suade"\, v. i. To use persuasion; to plead; to prevail by persuasion. --Shak.

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