convaincre

Pronunciation

• IPA: /kɔ̃.vɛ̃kʁ/^[1]

Forms

convaincre^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin convincō (“to prove guilty; to expose (an error); to prove”), adapted to the form of vaincre.^[2][3][4][1] The Latin verb is formed from cum (“with”), here intensive, and vincō (“to conquer”).^[3][5][6]

The Latin word also gave Occitan convencer, Spanish convencer and Italian convincere.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Guernes de Pont-Sainte-Maxence uses it about 1174 in his life of Thomas Becket for bringing someone to admit guilt.^[2] Littré quotes a 12th-century line, se de felunie fust nuls huem convencuz “if any man were convicted of felony”.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The word came in as a legal term in the Latinate construction convaincre quelqu'un de quelque chose, to prove someone guilty of something.^[3] Until the 17th century it often meant simply “to demonstrate, prove”, after the Latin verb.^[4] Calvin uses it in 1541 for exposing a fault or crime, a sense that has died out.^[2][3]

The modern sense, bringing someone to accept something as true, is in Pascal's De l'art de persuader (1657).^[2][3] The participles became adjectives in the 17th century: convaincant (1633, written convainquant in 1618) and convaincu (1677), which under the influence of conviction came to mean “full of conviction” (1823).^[3][2] The legal sense survives in atteint et convaincu de, “charged with and found guilty of”.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 1174 – “To prove guilty”, in Guernes de Pont-Sainte-Maxence.^[2]
• 1541 – “To expose (a fault)”, in Calvin.^[2][3]
• 1579 – The noun conviction is borrowed, first as a legal term.^[3]
• 1633 – Convaincant “convincing”, in Corneille.^[2]
• 1657 – “To persuade (someone) of a truth”, in Pascal.^[2][3]
• 1677 – Convaincu as an adjective, in Racine's Phèdre.^[2]
• 1823 – Convaincu “full of conviction”.^[2][3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To convince, persuade: bring someone to accept a fact or an idea as true.^[8][1] Convaincre quelqu'un de with an infinitive: to talk someone into doing something.^[8][1]
2. (reflexive) Se convaincre: to persuade oneself.^[8]
3. (law) To prove guilty, convict: convaincre quelqu'un de mensonge, atteint et convaincu de, charged with and found guilty of.^[6][1]

Word family

• convaincant
• convaincu

Related words

• vaincre
• conviction
• Latin convincō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert