Etymologically
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persuasive

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Pronunciation

  • /pə(ɹ)ˈsweɪsɪv/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French persuasif (“having the power of persuading”),[2][3][4][5][6][7] or its own source, borrowed from Medieval Latin persuāsīvus,[2][6][7][8] from Latin persuādeō (“to persuade, convince”), through its past participial stem, and the suffix -īvus.[2][4][5] The French adjective is recorded from 1376, and the Medieval Latin one from the mid-13th century, in Albertus Magnus.[2] The Latin verb is formed from per- and suādeō (“to urge, advise”),[9][5] from Proto-Indo-European *swād-.[9] The same Latin adjective gave Catalan persuasiu, Spanish persuasivo and Italian persuasivo.[2] Johnson derived it from French persuasif and the English verb persuade.[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of a thing, able to persuade: about 1487, in John Skelton's translation of Diodorus Siculus.[2] Etymonline and Dictionary.com date the word to the 1580s.[3][8]

Semantic evolution

The adjective was first used of things, such as words and arguments, and since 1581 also of people skilled at persuading.[2] In this sense it replaced the earlier persuasible.[3] A noun persuasive, something meant to persuade, a motive or inducement, is recorded from 1626,[2][7][4] and Johnson quotes Bacon's "as well for the persuasive as for the consult".[10] Johnson (1755) defined the adjective as "having the power of persuading; having influence on the passions".[10]

Timeline

  • c. 1487 – of a thing, able to persuade.[2]
  • 1581 – of a person.[2]
  • 1580s – Etymonline's first date.[3]
  • 1626 – noun, something meant to persuade; an inducement.[2]
  • 1755 – Johnson: having the power of persuading; having influence on the passions.[10]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Able to persuade; convincing: The lawyer made a persuasive case for her client.[11][4][2]

Noun

  1. Something that persuades or is meant to persuade; an inducement.[4][2][7]

Word family

  • persuasively
  • persuasiveness
  • nonpersuasive
  • prepersuasive

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  6. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  9. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  10. ^ a b c d Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  11. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins