con|vince´ment

con|vince «kuhn VIHNS», transitive verb, -vinced, -vinc|ing.

1. to make (a person) feel sure; cause to believe; persuade firmly: »

The mistakes you made convinced me you had not studied your lesson. The buyer was convinced of the salesman's integrity. He convinced the policeman that the parking meter was out of order.

SYNONYM(S): See syn. under persuade. (Cf. ↑persuade)

2. Obsolete. to prove or find guilty; convict.

3. Obsolete. to refute; disprove.

4. Obsolete. to overcome; conquer; overpower.

5. Obsolete. to demonstrate; prove.

╂[< Latin convincere < com- (intensive) + vincere overcome]

–con|vince´ment, noun.

–con|vinc´er, noun.

Usage Convince is followed by the object plus of and a noun, or by a that clause: »

I shall easily convince you of his innocence. You will soon be convinced that I am right.

In less formal but increasingly common usage, it is followed by the object plus an infinitive: »

We convinced her to stay. He could not be convinced to let the people go.