persuasion

[ per-swey-zhuhn ]

noun

1. the act of persuading or seeking to persuade.
2. the power of persuading; persuasive force.
3. the state or fact of being persuaded or convinced.
4. a deep conviction or belief.
5. a form or system of belief, especially religious belief:

   the Quaker persuasion.

6. a sect, group, or faction holding or advocating a particular belief, idea, ideology, etc.:

   Several of the people present are of the socialist persuasion.

7. Facetious. kind or sort.

persuasion

/ pəˈsweɪʒən /

noun

1. the act of persuading or of trying to persuade
2. the power to persuade
3. the state of being persuaded; strong belief
4. an established creed or belief, esp a religious one
5. a sect, party, or faction

Other Words From

• preper·suasion noun
• self-per·suasion noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of persuasion¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; late Middle English, from Latin persuāsiōn-, stem of persuāsiō; equivalent to per- + suasion; replacing Middle English persuacioun, from Middle French persuacion, from Latin, as above

Word History and Origins

Origin of persuasion¹

C14: from Latin persuāsiō; see persuade

Synonym Study

See advice.

Example Sentences

Second of all, there's no evidence that sexual persuasion works.

From Salon

Until then, identifying as any one of those sexual persuasions was illegal and punishable by expulsion from the service with a less than honorable discharge.

From Salon

Those of a United persuasion, fans and club officials alike, were delighted with what they saw.

From BBC

“I don’t care what the political persuasion is - women are fed up,” she said.

From BBC

During the 1990 midterm elections, a group led by Gingrich issued pamphlets among Republicans encouraging them to label their opponents with words like "destroy," "collapse," "traitors," "decay" and "sick" as a key mechanism of persuasion.

From Salon

Related Words

• belief
• creed
• denomination