convince

verb

kuhn-VINS/kənˈvɪns/

Formsconvinces, convincing, convinced

6 meanings of convince

Practice

1
verbtransitive
To make someone believe or feel certain about something, especially through logic, argument, or evidence.
The data convinced most skeptics that the new treatment worked.
Nothing the lawyer said could convince the panel of his client's innocence.
Similarpersuade, satisfy, assure
Note
The meaning that survived from a fiercer Latin past. Latin convincō meant 'I refute, prove' and was built on vincō, 'I conquer'. In English this sense displaced native Old English oferreċċan. Its past participle now serves for settled belief, as in I'm convinced that it's good, while convincing describes the proofs that do the work. Francis Atterbury's Easter sermon of 1718 speaks of 'convincing proofs' that enable people 'to convince others'.
2
verbtransitive
To persuade someone to do or agree to something.
After hours of debate, they convinced the board to fund the project.
He hoped to convince the committee to delay the vote.
Similarpersuade, induce, coax
Oppositedissuade, deter, discourage
3
verbintransitive
To perform a role so believably that the audience accepts you as the character rather than the actor.
He fails to convince as a hardened detective, smiling far too often.
The lead actress convinces completely as a grieving mother.
Note
A performer's verb from acting, in which the performer is the subject and the audience being won over usually goes unstated. An actor convinces, or fails to convince, as a character. Unlike the argument sense, nothing is proved and no one changes their mind about a fact. What is being judged is whether the illusion of the character holds.

Less common meanings

4
verbobsoletetransitive
To overcome, conquer, or vanquish an adversary.
Note
Here the conquering vincō behind the everyday sense shows through undisguised. In Shakespeare's Macbeth (c. 1606), the speaker vows to 'convince' two chamberlains with wine and wassail until memory is a fume. That means overpowering them, not winning them round. Read it as subdue wherever it turns up in older texts. Used this way today, it would simply be misunderstood.
5
verbobsoletetransitive
To prove someone wrong; to refute a person or argument.
For hee mightily conuinced the Iewes, and that publikely, shewing by the scriptures, that Iesus was Christ.
1611, The Holy Bible, King James Version
And therfore, God neuer wrought Miracle, to conuince Atheiſme, becauſe his Ordinary Works conuince it.
1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Atheisme. XVI.”
Note
Closest of all to Latin convincō, 'I refute': to convince someone was to beat them in argument. The King James Bible of 1611 says a preacher 'mightily convinced the Jews' by the scriptures, meaning that he refuted them. Francis Bacon in 1625 applies the verb to a doctrine, saying God's ordinary works 'convince' atheism. In such texts, read it as refute, never as persuade.
6
verbobsoletetransitive
To prove someone guilty; to convict an accused person.
Which of you conuinceth mee of ſinne?
1611, The Holy Bible, King James Version
O ſeek not to convince me of a Crime / Which I can ne'er repent, nor can you pardon.
1681, John Dryden, The Spanish Fryar
Note
The courtroom meaning, and the reason convict is this word's twin: both come from the same Latin verb. The King James Bible of 1611 asks 'Which of you convinceth me of sin?' John Dryden's The Spanish Fryar (1681) pleads 'seek not to convince me of a Crime'. The pattern 'convince someone of a wrong' looks modern. Here, though, it means proving the guilt, not making anyone believe in it.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of convince apart? Answer 4 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

Borrowed from Latin convincō ("I refute, prove"), formed from con- plus vincō ("I conquer, vanquish"). It is a doublet of convict and displaced the native Old English oferreċċan.