influence

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈɪn.flu.əns/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English influence,^[2] borrowed from Old French influence (“emanation from the stars; a flowing in”),^[3][4] from Medieval Latin influentia (“a flowing in”),^[3][4][5] from Latin influēns, present participle of influere (“to flow into”),^[3][4] from in- (“into”) and fluere (“to flow”).^[3][4][6] The same Medieval Latin word gave Italian influenza, the source of influenza.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

In astrology, a streaming of ethereal fluid or power from the stars acting on people's character and destiny: about 1374 in the OED,^[7] the late 14th century in Etymonline, and about 1385 in Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde in Barnhart.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English the senses were impersonal, used of any outflowing that produced an effect, whether a fluid or an unseen force.^[3] The literal “inflow” is recorded in English from 1546.^[7] The astrological meaning gradually developed into the power of people to act on others,^[4] the exertion of unseen influence by persons, from the 1580s^[3] (Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost, 1588, in Barnhart),^[4] a sense already found in Medieval Latin, as in Aquinas.^[3] The capacity to produce effects by invisible means is from 1652,^[7] and a person or thing that exerts influence from 1736.^[7] Under the influence, “drunk”, is from 1866.^[7] The verb is from 1658, in a speech by Cromwell.^[4][2] Influential at first meant “having astral influence” (1570) and later “powerful” (1655).^[4]

Timeline

• c. 1374 – astral influence.^[7]
• 1546 – an inflow.^[7]
• 1588 – power over others.^[4]
• 1658 – verb.^[4][2]
• 1736 – a person who influences.^[7]
• 1866 – under the influence.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The power to affect people, things or events, especially without visible effort.
2. Power based on prestige, wealth or position.
3. A person or thing that has such power: a bad influence.
4. (astrology) An ethereal fluid thought to flow from the stars and affect human destiny.

Verb

1. To affect or sway by indirect or intangible means.
2. To affect the nature or development of.

Word family

• influenceable
• influencer
• counterinfluence
• noninfluence
• interinfluence
• outinfluence
• overinfluence
• reinfluence

Related words

• inflow
• influent
• influential
• influenza
• flu
• influx
• fluent
• fluid
• flux
• affluent

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press