convince English · revision 6233

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1530|origins=la vinco}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /kənˈvɪns/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|convinco|alt=convincere|t=to overcome; to convict; to prove]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from [[m|la|com-]], here intensive, and [[m|la|vinco|alt=vincere|t=to conquer]] (see [[victor]]).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) It is related to [[convict]].^(NODE 1998)^(Trench 1859)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To overcome in argument, to prove wrong: 1530, in Palsgrave's ''Lesclarcissement''.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ To overcome or conquer is from 1548, and to convict or prove guilty was another 16th-century sense; both are obsolete.^(OED 1989)^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002) Shakespeare used it in ''Macbeth'' for overpowering with wine.^(SOED 2002) The sense of persuading by argument or evidence is first recorded in 1606, in Shakespeare's ''Troilus and Cressida'',^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) about 1600 in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) Trench notes that convince and convict have been usefully separated: one is convinced of a sin but convicted of a crime.^(Trench 1859) [[convincing|alt=Convincing]] is from 1624.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1530 – to overcome in argument.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1548 – to conquer (obsolete).^(OED 1989)

+ * 1606 – to persuade.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1624 – convincing.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To make someone believe something by argument or [[evidence]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(chiefly US)'' To [[persuade]] someone to do something.^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(obsolete)'' To overcome, or to prove guilty.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[convincement]]

+ * [[convincer]]

+ * [[convincible]]

+ * [[convincedly]]

+ * [[convincedness]]

+ * [[convincibility]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[convict]]

+ * [[conviction]]

+ * [[reconvince]]

+ * [[victor]]

+ * [[victory]]

+ * [[invincible]]

+ * [[evince]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A traditional rule says that one [[persuade|alt=persuades]] someone to act but convinces someone that something is true, so that ''convince'' should not take an infinitive; the AHD notes that ''convince someone to do'' has become so common that the rule is unlikely to hold.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023) The Century Dictionary, quoted by Etymonline, made the same distinction.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}