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Definition of persuade - 2 dictionary results

per⋅suade

  [per-sweyd]
Use persuade in a Sentence
–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 persuādēre. 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
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To persuade
per·suade   (pər-swād')   
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.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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