convencer

Forms

convencer (first-person singular present convenzo, first-person singular preterite convencí, past participle convencido)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin convincō (“to overcome; to prove wrong, convict”).^[2][3][4] Corominas lists it among the derivatives of vencer, the inherited outcome of vincō (“to conquer”), and dates it from Juan Manuel, about 1325.^[2] Wiktionary treats it as inherited.^[1]

The same Latin verb is Portuguese convencer, Catalan convèncer, French convaincre and Italian convincere.^[5][6][7][8] Nascentes considers the Portuguese verb semi-learned, and French borrowed it about 1174, reshaping it after vaincre.^[9][7]

The Latin verb is formed from con- and the simple verb; its main senses were “to overcome, win a case” and “to find guilty, convict”.^[10][1] De Vaan derives the simple verb from a Proto-Italic verb meaning “to tie, bind”, hence “to tie in, overcome”.^[11] Wiktionary gives Proto-Indo-European *weyk- (“to overcome”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas takes the first record from Juan Manuel, about 1325.^[2][3] Alonso quotes his Libro de los estados (1327–1332): E él convenciome siempre tan con razón, que por fuerza le hobe a decir lo que él queria saber, “and he always convinced me with such good reason that I had to tell him what he wanted to know”.^[12]

Semantic evolution

The early hits in the CDH mostly use the participle in the legal sense “convicted”: a woman may be convençida de su marido (after 1350), and in Fernández de Heredia's Plutarch (1379–1384) a man expects to be conuencido.^[13] Alonso de Palencia (1490) glosses Latin allicere with atraher, conuencer, “to draw, win over”.^[12]

Covarrubias (1611) defines it as bringing someone to change his opinion.^[14] Autoridades (1729) speaks of obliging another with effective reasons to give up his view.^[15] The Academy's edition of 1843 adds the second sense, to prove something to someone so that he cannot deny it.^[16] Cuervo quotes Hermosilla's distinction: convencer proves to the understanding that something is true or false, while persuadir moves the will to act on it.^[17] In modern colloquial use the verb also means “to please, satisfy”, mostly in questions and negative sentences.^[18][19] Basque and Tagalog have borrowed it.^[1]

Timeline

• 1293 – the CDH's earliest hit, a charter, has the learned participle convictos “convicted”.^[13]
• c. 1325 – first record, in Juan Manuel.^[2][3]
• 1327–1332 – Juan Manuel's Libro de los estados.^[12]
• 1379–1384 – the participle conuencido “convicted” in Fernández de Heredia's Plutarch.^[13]
• 1490 – Alonso de Palencia's Vocabulario.^[12]
• 1558 – first record in the Americas, in Guatemala.^[20]
• 1591 – Percyvall glosses it “to convince”.^[21]
• 1729 – Autoridades derives it from Latin convincere.^[15]
• 1843 – the Academy adds the sense “to prove beyond denial”.^[16]
• 1884 – the Academy gives the etymology for the first time.^[22]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive, also pronominal) To persuade someone with reasons to do something or to change an opinion or behaviour: Al final la convencimos de que viniera con nosotros.^[4][1][18]
2. (transitive, also pronominal) To prove something so that it cannot reasonably be denied; to convince: Las pruebas convencieron al jurado.^[4][1]
3. (pronominal) To become sure of something, through another's reasons or one's own reflection: Por fin se convenció de que tenía razón.^[18][19]
4. (colloquial, intransitive, mostly in questions and negatives) To please, satisfy: Esa idea no me acaba de convencer.^[18][19]

Word family

• convencimiento

Related words

• convicción
• convincente
• vencer
• convicto
• Latin convincō
• Portuguese convencer

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 768
3. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. vencer
4. ^ a b c Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. convencer
5. ^ Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. 972
6. ^ Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. convèncer
7. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Segura Munguía, Santiago (2001), Nuevo diccionario etimológico latín-español y de las voces derivadas, Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto, p. 169
9. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. convencer
10. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
12. ^ a b c d Alonso Pedraz, Martín (1986), Diccionario medieval español: desde las Glosas Emilianenses y Silenses (s. X) hasta el siglo XV, 2 vols., Salamanca: Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca, p. 779
13. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. convencer
14. ^ Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 509
15. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 2, 574
16. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 194
17. ^ Cuervo, Rufino José (1886–1893), Diccionario de construcción y régimen de la lengua castellana, vols. I–II (A–D), París: A. Roger y F. Chernoviz, p. 2, 508
18. ^ a b c d Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. convencer
19. ^ a b c Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. convencer
20. ^ Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. convencer
21. ^ Percyvall, Richard (1591), Bibliothecae Hispanicae pars altera: containing a dictionarie in Spanish, English and Latine, London: John Jackson for Richard Watkins, p. 97
22. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 288