Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1500-1600
Language: Latin
Origin: persuadere, from suadere 'to advise'

persuade

 verb
     
per‧suade S2 W2 [transitive]
1 to make someone decide to do something, especially by giving them reasons why they should do it, or asking them many times to do it
persuade somebody to do something
I finally managed to persuade her to go out for a drink with me.
persuade somebody into doing something
Don't let yourself be persuaded into buying things you don't want.
try/manage/fail to persuade somebody
I'm trying to persuade your dad to buy some shares.
attempt/effort to persuade somebody
Leo wouldn't agree, despite our efforts to persuade him.
little/a lot of/no persuading
He took a lot of persuading to come out of retirement (=it was hard to persuade him).
He was fairly easily persuaded.
2 to make someone believe something or feel sure about something [= convince]:
I am not persuaded by these arguments.
persuade somebody (that)
She'll only take me back if I can persuade her that I've changed.
persuade somebody of something
McFadden must persuade the jury of her innocence.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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