Etymologically
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convincere

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Pronunciation

  • /konˈvin.t͡ʃe.re/[1]

Forms

convincere (first-person singular present convìnco, first-person singular past historic convìnsi, past participle convìnto, auxiliary avére)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin convincō (“to prove; to convict”), a learned word, from vincō (“to conquer”) with the prefix con-.[2][3][4][1] Nocentini glosses the Latin as “to prove in a winning way”, and Battaglia notes that it meant both “to subdue” and “to prove beyond refutation”.[3][5] The Italian Wiktionary adds that “to persuade” is a Late Latin sense, beside classical “to prove guilty”.[6]

The noun convinzione is Late Latin convictiō, remade after convinto.[2][3] The French verb convaincre, recorded from the 12th century, was remade on vaincre;[7][3] Spanish has convencer.[7][3] Dialect forms such as Romagnol convenzer are recorded.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is Bonvesin da la Riva, in Milanese, in the last decade of the 13th century, and its first sense is rhetorical: to defeat an opponent in a philosophical or doctrinal dispute.[9] DELI dates the sense “to bring someone to accept something by argument” from Dante (1304–08), who says Aristotle first fought the adversaries of truth and then, quelli convinti, showed the truth.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

The legal sense “to prove someone guilty” is recorded from Alberto della Piagentina before 1332, and the TLIO also has “to overcome by force” in Old Italian.[2][9] Battaglia records a separate rare convincere “to join, link” in Francesco da Barberino, influenced by Latin vinciō (“to bind”).[5][9]

The reflexive convincersi, to become certain, is recorded only in 1755.[2] Convinzione (before 1578) took the plural sense “beliefs reached after reflection” in Rosmini before 1855.[2] In modern use the verb in the negative also means “not to inspire trust”: la cosa non mi convince.[4][10]

Timeline

  • Late 13th century – Bonvesin da la Riva uses the verb.[9]
  • 1304–1308 – Dante uses it for persuading by argument.[2]
  • Before 1332 – Alberto della Piagentina uses it for proving guilt.[2]
  • Before 1578 – Convinzione is recorded.[2]
  • 1755 – Convincersi is recorded.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To convince someone of something by argument or evidence: Mi ha convinto della sua innocenza.[4][10][11]
  2. To persuade someone to do something: L'ho convinta a venire con noi.[4][10][11]
  3. (chiefly in the negative) To inspire trust, to satisfy: Questo progetto non mi convince.[4][10][11]
  4. (law) To prove someone guilty: fu convinto di furto.[4][10][12]

Word family

  • convincimento
  • convinto
  • convinzione
  • convincente
  • convincibile

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  3. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  5. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  6. ^ Wikizionario (Italian Wiktionary), it.wiktionary.org
  7. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1092
  8. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 327
  9. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  10. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  11. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  12. ^ Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli