per·sua·sion

[per-swey-zhuhn]
noun
1.
the act of persuading or seeking to persuade.
2.
the power of persuading; persuasive force.
3.
the state or fact of being persuaded or convinced.
4.
a deep conviction or belief.
5.
a form or system of belief, especially religious belief: the Quaker persuasion.
6.
a sect, group, or faction holding or advocating a particular belief, idea, ideology, etc.: Several of the people present are of the socialist persuasion.
7.
Facetious. kind or sort.

Origin:
1350–1400; late Middle English < Latin persuāsiōn- (stem of persuāsiō; see per-, suasion); replacing Middle English persuacioun < Middle French persuacion < Latin, as above

pre·per·sua·sion, noun
self-per·sua·sion, noun


1. See advice.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
persuasion (pəˈsweɪʒən) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n
1.  the act of persuading or of trying to persuade
2.  the power to persuade
3.  the state of being persuaded; strong belief
4.  an established creed or belief, esp a religious one
5.  a sect, party, or faction
 
[C14: from Latin persuāsiō; see persuade]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

persuasion
late 14c., "action of inducing (someone) to believe (something)," from O.Fr. persuasion (14c.), from L. persuasionem (nom. persuasio) "a convincing, persuading," from persuadere "persuade," from per- "thoroughly, strongly" + suadere "to urge, persuade," from PIE *swad-. Meaning "religious belief, creed"
is from 1620s.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia

persuasion

the process by which a person's attitudes or behaviour are, without duress, influenced by communications from other people. One's attitudes and behaviour are also affected by other factors (for example, verbal threats, physical coercion, one's physiological states). Not all communication is intended to be persuasive; other purposes include informing or entertaining. Persuasion often involves manipulating people, and for this reason many find the exercise distasteful. Others might argue that, without some degree of social control and mutual accommodation such as that obtained through persuasion, the human community becomes disordered. In this way, persuasion gains moral acceptability when the alternatives are considered. To paraphrase Winston Churchill's evaluation of democracy as a form of government, persuasion is the worst method of social control-except for all the others

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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Example sentences
He likes nothing more than taking on a room of hostile unionists, and he has a
  heroic belief in his own powers of persuasion.
Whether these shifts were good or bad depends on your political persuasion.
But their technological explorations can tantalize anyone of a geeky persuasion.
That's how strong their online powers of persuasion will have to be.
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