convinge

Forms

convinge (present conving, past participle convins, simple perfect convinsei), third conjugation^[2][1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin convincō (“to overcome; to prove guilty”), with its conjugation brought into line with învinge: that is the view of DER, MDA2, DEX and Wiktionary.^[3][4][2][1] DELR takes it instead as borrowed from French convaincre, at first “to make someone admit his guilt by proof”, itself a learned borrowing of the Latin verb, and likewise adapted after the native verb.^[5] The neologism dictionaries give both Latin and Italian convincere.^[6] DER dates the borrowing to the 19th century.^[3]

The Latin verb is formed from con- and vincō (“to conquer, win”);^[1] it meant “to overcome; to win an argument”, and above all “to find guilty”.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR and Tiktin date the first record to 1787, in a text by M. Cantacuzino, with the sense “to make someone accept a view by proofs and arguments”.^[5][8] MDA2's first record is later, Pontbriant's Romanian–French dictionary of 1862.^[4] Negulici's dictionary of 1848 already lists the infinitive convingere with the note that it is conjugated like împinge.^[9]

Semantic evolution

DELR notes that the French verb first meant “to make someone admit his guilt”; the Romanian word is recorded from the start with the sense “to make someone accept a view by proofs and arguments”.^[5][10] The reflexive a se convinge “to satisfy oneself, to come to see” is quoted from C. Negruzzi.^[8][10] With a clause introduced by să it means “to talk someone into doing something”.^[10][4]

The abstract noun was at first convicțiune, taken from French conviction and recorded from 1837; it gave way to the native long infinitive convingere, recorded from 1868.^[5][3] The adjective convingător “convincing” dates from 1862 (Odobescu) and Caragiale's răsconvins “thoroughly convinced” from 1880.^[5]

Timeline

• 1787 – the first record, in M. Cantacuzino.^[5][8]
• 1837 – convicțiune (convicție) “conviction”, from French.^[5]
• 1848 – listed by Negulici, conjugated like împinge.^[9]
• 1862 – convingător “convincing”, in Odobescu; the verb in Pontbriant's dictionary.^[5][4]
• 1868 – convingere “firm opinion”.^[5]
• 1880 – răsconvins “thoroughly convinced”, in Caragiale.^[5]
• 1936 – neconvingător “unconvincing”.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To convince, to persuade: to make someone accept a view by proofs and arguments, or admit that something is true: L-a convins că greșise. “She convinced him that he had been wrong.”^[2][4]
2. (transitive) To make someone decide to do something: Nu am reușit să-l conving să rămână. “I could not get him to stay.”^[4][10]
3. (reflexive) To see for oneself, to satisfy oneself that something is so: M-am convins că ușa era încuiată. “I made sure that the door was locked.”^[2][1]

Word family

• convicțiune
• convingător
• convingere
• neconvingător
• răsconvins

Related words

• convict
• învinge
• Latin convincō

Usage notes

It is conjugated like învinge: conving, convinsei, convins.^[10][8][2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 232
3. ^ a b c Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001), p. s.v. convinge
4. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 502
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2011–), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române (DELR), vol. I: A–B (2011), vol. II: C (2015–2018), București: Editura Academiei Române; continued online at delr.lingv.ro, p. s.v. convinge
6. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. convinge
9. ^ a b Negulici, I. D. (1848), Vocabular romînesc de toate vorbele streine întroduse pînă acum în limba romînească și de toate cuvintele ce s-ar mai putea introduce încă, București, p. s.v. convingere
10. ^ a b c d e Academia Română (1913–1949), Dicționarul limbii române (DA), ed. Sextil Pușcariu, tom I (A–B, C, D–De) and tom II (F–I, J–Lojniță), București: Socec / Universul / Monitorul Oficial și Imprimeriile Statului; page scans at cflr-scans.solirom.ro, p. s.v. convinge