| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| persuasion |
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| SYLLABICATION: | per·sua·sion |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  p r-sw  zhn |
| NOUN: | 1. The act of persuading or the state of being persuaded: “The persuasion of a democracy to big changes is at best a slow process” (Harold J. Laski). 2. The ability or power to persuade: “Three foremost aids to persuasion which occur to me are humility, concentration, and gusto” (Marianne Moore). 3. A strongly held opinion; a conviction. See synonyms at opinion. 4a. A body of religious beliefs; a religion: worshipers of various persuasions. b. A party, faction, or group holding to a particular set of ideas or beliefs. 5. Informal Kind; sort: “the place where … rockers of any gender or persuasion can become megastars” (Christopher John Farley, Time March 27, 1995). | | ETYMOLOGY: | Middle English, from Old French, from Latin persusi , persusin-, from persusus, past participle of persud re, to persuade. See persuade.
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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