Etymologically
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persuasion

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /pəˈsweɪʒ(ə)n/[1]
  • US: /pɚˈsweɪʒən/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English persuasioun, also persuacioun,[2][3] borrowed from Middle French persuasion[4][3][5] and directly borrowed from Latin persuāsiō (“act of persuading; conviction”).[4][6][2] The Latin noun is formed from persuāsus, the past participle of persuādeō (“to persuade”),[7][5][3] which is formed from per (“thoroughly, strongly”) and suādeō (“to urge, persuade”), from Proto-Indo-European *swād- (“sweet, pleasant”), the root of sweet.[6] The French word is recorded from 1315 for the act of persuading.[4] Dictionary.com notes that the Middle English form with -c-, from French, was replaced by one taken from the Latin stem.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

A persuasive argument or inducement, and the act of persuading: about 1384, in the early version of the Wycliffite Bible, where Galatians 5:8 reads "this persuacioun".[2][4] Etymonline dates the word to the late 14th century.[6]

Semantic evolution

From the act of persuading the word came to mean an argument used to persuade (before 1398, in Trevisa),[4] the power to persuade (1540),[4] and then the result: a belief or opinion (about 1510, in Thomas More) and the state of being convinced (1534), the latter now archaic.[4][6] Johnson (1755) defined it as the act of persuading and as "the state of being persuaded; opinion".[9] Chaucer used it once, for a persuasive argument.[10] From the 1620s, first in Donne, a persuasion was a religious creed,[4][6] and by 1732 it also meant the group of people who hold it, a sect;[4] later it was also used of a school of political thought.[4] A colloquial, humorous use for a kind or sort of person, as in of the female persuasion, is recorded by 1855 in the OED[4] and by 1864 in Etymonline.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 1384 – the act of persuading; a persuasive argument.[4][2]
  • before 1398 – an argument or appeal meant to persuade.[4]
  • c. 1510 – a belief or opinion.[4]
  • 1534 – the state of being convinced.[4][6]
  • 1540 – the power of persuading.[4]
  • 1623 – a religious creed.[4][6]
  • 1732 – a group holding a religious belief; a sect.[4]
  • 1855 – humorously, a kind or sort.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The act of persuading or trying to persuade someone: It took a lot of persuasion to get him on the plane.[11][3][4]
  2. The power or ability to persuade; persuasiveness.[11][4]
  3. An argument or inducement meant to persuade.[3][4]
  4. A firm belief or conviction.[11][4]
  5. An established creed, especially a religious one, or a school of political thought: voters of every political persuasion.[11][4]
  6. A group of people holding such a belief; a sect or faction.[11][4]
  7. (humorous) A kind or sort: a friend of the canine persuasion.[4][6]

Word family

  • prepersuasion
  • self-persuasion

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  3. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  8. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  10. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
  11. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins