persuade

Etymology

From Latin persuādeō (“I persuade”).

verb

1. (transitive) To successfully convince (someone) to agree to, accept, or do something, usually through reasoning and verbal influence.
   That salesman was able to persuade me into buying this bottle of lotion.
   [VV]e are able with playne demonſtration to proue, and vvith reaſon to perſvvade that in tymes paſt our fayth vvas alike, that then vve preached thinges correſpondent vnto the forme of faith already published of vs, ſo that none in this behalfe can repyne or gaynesay vs. 1577, Socrates Scholasticus [i.e., Socrates of Constantinople], “Constantinus the Emperour Summoneth the Nicene Councell, it was Held at Nicæa a Citie of Bythnia for the Debatinge of the Controuersie about the Feast of Easter, and the Rootinge out of the Heresie of Arius”, in Eusebius Pamphilus, Socrates Scholasticus, Evagrius Scholasticus, Dorotheus, translated by Meredith Hanmer, The Avncient Ecclesiasticall Histories of the First Six Hundred Yeares after Christ, Wrytten in the Greeke Tongue by Three Learned Historiographers, Eusebius, Socrates, and Euagrius. …, book I (The First Booke of the Ecclesiasticall Historye of Socrates Scholasticvs), imprinted at London: By Thomas Vautroullier dwelling in the Blackefriers by Ludgate, →OCLC, page 225
   The most persistent tormentor was Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who scored a hat-trick in last month’s corresponding fixture in Iceland. His ability to run at defences is instantly striking, but it is his clever use of possession that has persuaded some shrewd judges that he is an even better prospect than Theo Walcott. November 10, 2011, Jeremy Wilson, “England Under 21 5 Iceland Under 21 0: match report”, in Telegraph
2. (transitive, obsolete) To convince of by argument, or by reasons offered or suggested from reflection, etc.; to cause to believe (something).
3. (transitive, now rare, regional) To urge, plead; to try to convince (someone to do something).
   She did not go into the coffee-room, though repeatedly persuaded by Miss Woodley, but waited at the door till her carriage drew up. 1791, Elizabeth Inchbald, A Simple Story, Oxford 2009 edition, page 119
   He persuaded me to go home, but I refused. 1834, David Crockett, A Narrative of the Life of, Nebraska, published 1987, page 34