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Origin and history of persuade

persuade(v.)

"lead to the opinion or conclusion (that), make (one) believe or think, successfully urge the acceptance or practice of," 1510s, from French persuader (14c.), from Latin persuadere "to bring over by talking," (see persuasion). From 1530s as "prevail upon, as by demonstration, arguments, etc." Related: Persuaded; persuading.

also from 1510s

Entries linking to persuade

persuasion(n.)

late 14c., persuasioun, "action of inducing (someone) to believe (something) by appeals to reason (not by authority, force, or fear); an argument to persuade, inducement," from Old French persuasion (14c.) and directly from Latin persuasionem (nominative persuasio) "a convincing, persuading," noun of action from past-participle stem of persuadere "persuade, convince," from per "thoroughly, strongly" (see per) + suadere "to urge, persuade," from PIE root *swād- "sweet, pleasant" (see sweet (adj.)).

Meaning "state of being convinced" is from 1530s; that of "religious belief, creed" is from 1620s. Colloquial or humorous sense of "kind, sort, nationality" is by 1864.

persuadable(adj.)

1520s, "having the quality of persuading" (a sense now obsolete); 1590s, "capable of being persuaded or prevailed upon," from persuade + -able. Fowler recommends this over the older adjective, persuasible (c. 1400). Related: Persuadableness.

persuasible(adj.)

c. 1400, "plausible, convincing, having the power to persuade," from Latin persuasibilis "convincing, persuasive," from past-participle stem of persuadere (see persuade). The sense of "capable of being persuaded" is from c. 1500, and the older sense then became obsolete. Related: Persuasibility.

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    carry
    early 14c., "to bear or convey, take along or transport," from Anglo-French carier "transport in a vehicle" or Old North French carrier "to cart, carry" (Modern French charrier), from Gallo-Roman *carrizare, from Late Latin carricare, from Latin carrum originally "two-wheeled Cel
    sway
    early 14c., sweien, "move, go, go quickly;" also transitive, "move (something) along, carry," probably from a Scandinavian source (compare Old Norse sveigja "to bend, swing, give way," Old Danish svegja) and perhaps merged with an unrecorded Old English cognate. The whole group m
    convince
    Meaning "to firmly persuade or satisfy by argument or evidence" is from c. 1600....To convince a person is to satisfy his understanding as to the truth of a certain statement; to persuade him is, by derivation...There is a marked tendency now to confine persuade to its own distinctive meaning. [Century Dictionary, 1897]...
    teach
    past participle tæht) "to show, point out, declare, demonstrate," also "to give instruction, train, assign, direct; warn; persuade...[kicks him] The usual sense of Old English tæcan was "show, declare, warn, persuade" (compare German zeigen "to show," from...
    diffident
    mistrust, lack confidence," from dis- "away" (see dis-) + fidere "to trust" (from PIE root *bheidh- "to trust, confide, persuade...
    confident
    form of com, here perhaps an intensive prefix (see com-), + fidere "to trust" (from PIE root *bheidh- "to trust, confide, persuade...
    confide
    form of com, here perhaps an intensive prefix (see com-), + fidere "to trust" (from PIE root *bheidh- "to trust, confide, persuade...
    influence
    late 14c., an astrological term, "streaming ethereal power from the stars when in certain positions, acting upon character or destiny of men," from Old French influence "emanation from the stars that acts upon one's character and destiny" (13c.), also "a flow of water, a flowing
    drag
    late 14c., draggen, "to draw a grapnel along the bottom of a river, lake, etc., in search of something;" late 15c., "to draw away by force, pull haul," from Old Norse draga, or a dialectal variant of Old English dragan "to draw," both from Proto-Germanic *draganan "to draw, pull,
    make
    Old English macian "to give being to, give form or character to, bring into existence; construct, do, be the author of, produce; prepare, arrange, cause; behave, fare, transform," from West Germanic *makōjanan "to fashion, fit" (source also of Old Saxon makon, Old Frisian makia "

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