Persuade in Different Languages
Discover 'Persuade' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
The word 'persuade' holds immense significance in our daily lives, as it represents the art of influencing someone's thoughts, beliefs, or actions. Persuasion is a powerful tool that has been used in various cultural contexts, from political speeches to marketing campaigns. Its importance is further highlighted by the fact that it is a fundamental aspect of communication and social interaction.
Throughout history, great leaders and thinkers have harnessed the power of persuasion to bring about change and progress. For instance, Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'I Have a Dream' speech is a powerful example of persuasion that continues to inspire people worldwide. Similarly, the ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle, wrote extensively on the art of persuasion, identifying three key elements: ethos, pathos, and logos.
Understanding the translation of 'persuade' in different languages can open up new avenues of cultural exploration and communication. For instance, the word 'persuadir' means 'to persuade' in Spanish, while 'convaincre' is its French equivalent. As you delve deeper into the world of language and culture, you'll discover that the word 'persuade' has a rich tapestry of translations and cultural interpretations.
Persuade
Persuade in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | oorreed | ||
| The Afrikaans word "oorreed" is related to the English "rede," which means "argument" or "reason," and the Middle Low German "reden," which means "advise." | |||
| Amharic | ማሳመን | ||
| The verb "ማሳመን" originates from the noun "ማሰሚ" which means "agreement". | |||
| Hausa | lallashe | ||
| The word 'lallashe' can also refer to the act of convincing someone to do something. | |||
| Igbo | kwagide | ||
| "Kwagide" in Igbo also means to coax or induce. | |||
| Malagasy | mandresy lahatra | ||
| The Malagasy word "mandresy lahatra" can also mean "to force" or "to constrain". | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | kukopa | ||
| The word "kukopa" in Nyanja is likely derived from the Bantu root "-kopa" meaning "to grasp".} | |||
| Shona | kunyengetedza | ||
| Somali | ka dhaadhicin | ||
| The term can also refer to influencing someone through non-verbal means. | |||
| Sesotho | susumetsa | ||
| The word "susumetsa" can also mean "encourage" or "convince". | |||
| Swahili | kushawishi | ||
| The Swahili word "kushawishi" can also mean "to influence" or "to inspire". | |||
| Xhosa | ukucenga | ||
| The word 'ukucenga' is derived from the verb 'ukucenga,' which means 'to ask' or 'to request'. | |||
| Yoruba | parowa | ||
| "Paro" (to beg) and "wa" (to come) combine to form the verb "parowa" (to persuade). | |||
| Zulu | kholisa | ||
| "Kholisa" originates from the Proto-Bantu verb "*-olisa," meaning to make something known or to show. | |||
| Bambara | ka lasɔnni kɛ | ||
| Ewe | ble enu | ||
| Kinyarwanda | kujijura | ||
| Lingala | kondimisa | ||
| Luganda | okwogereza | ||
| Sepedi | kgodiša | ||
| Twi (Akan) | korɔkorɔ | ||
Persuade in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | اقناع | ||
| اقناع is also used to refer to the act of "convincing oneself" of something, a meaning which is not present in the English word "persuade" | |||
| Hebrew | לְשַׁכְנֵעַ | ||
| The Hebrew word "לְשַׁכְנֵעַ" is derived from the root "שכ" meaning "to neighbor". The root "שכ" also means "to be peaceful" or "to live together in harmony". | |||
| Pashto | هڅول | ||
| The Pashto word "هڅول" can also mean "urge" or "incite". | |||
| Arabic | اقناع | ||
| اقناع is also used to refer to the act of "convincing oneself" of something, a meaning which is not present in the English word "persuade" | |||
Persuade in Western European Languages
| Albanian | bindin | ||
| Bindin (persuade) is an Albanian term that also means | |||
| Basque | konbentzitu | ||
| The word "konbentzitu" also refers to the action of a believer trying to convert a nonbeliever to a certain religion. | |||
| Catalan | persuadir | ||
| The etymology of "persuadir" ultimately traces back to an Indo-European verb meaning "to drink" or "to make drink". | |||
| Croatian | uvjeriti | ||
| "Uvjeriti" and "vjera" share the same root and mean "belief", originating from Proto-Slavic *вѣriti (*věr-iti). | |||
| Danish | overtale | ||
| The Danish word "overtale" is derived from the Old Norse word "aftæla", meaning "agreement" or "contract", and is related to the English word "tell". | |||
| Dutch | overtuigen | ||
| The Dutch word "overtuigen" ultimately derives from the Latin "convincere", meaning "to prove or convict". | |||
| English | persuade | ||
| The word "persuade" comes from the Latin word "persuadere," which means "to advise," "to convince," or "to bring around." | |||
| French | persuader | ||
| The word "persuader" in French has Latin origins, meaning "to sweeten" or "to make pleasant". | |||
| Frisian | oertsjûgje | ||
| The Frisian word "oertsjûgje" ultimately derives from the Proto-Germanic word "*sōkian" meaning "to seek" or "to find". | |||
| Galician | persuadir | ||
| In Galician, the verb "persuadir" also means "to prove" or "to demonstrate". | |||
| German | überzeugen | ||
| Überzeugen means 'to convince' and derives from 'über' ('over') and 'zeugen' ('beget'), meaning 'to prove convincingly'. | |||
| Icelandic | sannfæra | ||
| The Icelandic word "sannfæra" is derived from the Old Norse words "sannr" (true) and "færa" (to lead), suggesting the idea of leading someone to the truth or convincing them of something. | |||
| Irish | ina luí | ||
| "Ina luí" in Irish means "persuade" and is related to "luí" (desire), hence "inspire desire". | |||
| Italian | persuadere | ||
| The Italian word "persuadere" originally meant "to prove the guilt of" and is related to words like "perspicacity" and "perspicuous", meaning being able to see through something. | |||
| Luxembourgish | iwwerzeegen | ||
| The verb iwwerzeegen derives from the Middle High German 'überreden', meaning to convince someone, talk them into something, or prevail upon them. | |||
| Maltese | tipperswadi | ||
| "Tipperswadi" is derived from the Arabic word "taswir", meaning "impression" or "engraving". | |||
| Norwegian | overtale | ||
| The Norwegian word "overtale", meaning "persuade", is cognate with the English word "overtalk" which means "to exhaust by talking". | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | persuadir | ||
| In Portuguese, "persuadir" also means "to induce someone to do something by making them believe something is true." | |||
| Scots Gaelic | ìmpidh | ||
| The word 'ìmpidh' ultimately derives from Proto-Indo-European root '*h₁em-' meaning “to move, set in motion”. | |||
| Spanish | persuadir | ||
| The verb 'persuadir' in Spanish comes from the Latin word 'persuadere', which means 'to convince or make believe'. | |||
| Swedish | övertyga, övertala | ||
| The Old Norse words "övertyga" and "övertala" originally meant "to convince" and "to win over to one's side," respectively. | |||
| Welsh | perswadio | ||
| "Perswadio" in Welsh could also mean "to entice" or "to tempt". | |||
Persuade in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | пераконваць | ||
| The word "пераконваць" is derived from the Slavic root *kъn-, meaning "to convince". It is related to the Russian word "преконить" and the Polish word "przekonac". | |||
| Bosnian | nagovoriti | ||
| The word "nagovoriti" can also mean "to incite" or "to compel". | |||
| Bulgarian | убеждавам | ||
| The word "убеждавам" can also mean "to convince" or "to persuade". | |||
| Czech | přesvědčit | ||
| The word "přesvědčit" is derived from the verb "svědčit" and originally meant "to testify" or "to give evidence". | |||
| Estonian | veenma | ||
| The word "veenma" in Estonian is derived from the Proto-Finnic word *wenet-, meaning "to entice, to persuade". | |||
| Finnish | suostutella | ||
| Its etymology might be from "suostua" (consent), but this is uncertain, and another theory suggests it is from "suositella" (recommend). | |||
| Hungarian | rábeszélni | ||
| The verb "rábeszélni" is a contracted form of "rá" (on, onto) and "beszélni" (to talk), thus it literally means "to talk onto". The word can also mean "to talk out of". | |||
| Latvian | pārliecināt | ||
| The verb "pārliecināt" ("persuade") is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *pleh₂-, meaning "to swing, turn, fold" or "to fill, become full". This root is also found in the words "plead", "plethora", and "full" in English. | |||
| Lithuanian | įtikinti | ||
| The word "įtikinti" derives from the Proto-Baltic root *teike- and is cognate with the Old Prussian word "teikintin" (to persuade). | |||
| Macedonian | убеди | ||
| Macedonian "убеди" comes from the Old Church Slavonic word "убъдити" meaning "to convince" and "to make firm." | |||
| Polish | namawiać | ||
| In Polish, "namawiać" etymologically translates to "talk into" with a connotation of "moving" or "changing". | |||
| Romanian | convinge | ||
| "Convinge" comes from the Latin "convincere", meaning "to convict" or "to prove guilty". | |||
| Russian | убедить | ||
| The word "убедить" also means to "convince" and shares a root with the word "убеждение" meaning "belief". | |||
| Serbian | наговорити | ||
| The word "наговорити" in Serbian can also mean "to slander" or "to gossip". | |||
| Slovak | presvedčiť | ||
| "Presvedčiť" is also a noun meaning "conviction". | |||
| Slovenian | prepričati | ||
| The verb 'prepričati' in Slovenian can be traced to the Proto-Slavic verb 'prě-privęžati' which meant 'to lead across'. | |||
| Ukrainian | переконувати | ||
| Originally referred to convincing somebody to change their religion, but nowadays used in any case when convincing is needed. | |||
Persuade in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | পটান | ||
| In its noun form, "পটান" can refer to a thin cloth or a trap laid out for a person. | |||
| Gujarati | સમજાવવું | ||
| Hindi | राज़ी करना | ||
| The word 'राज़ी करना' comes from the Persian word 'raz', which means 'secret' or 'mystery', implying that persuasion involves revealing hidden or unspoken information to change someone's viewpoint. | |||
| Kannada | ಮನವೊಲಿಸುವುದು | ||
| The word "ಮನವೊಲಿಸುವುದು" also means "to convince" or "to induce" someone to do something. | |||
| Malayalam | അനുനയിപ്പിക്കുക | ||
| The word "അനുനയിപ്പിക്കുക" (persuade) in Malayalam originates from the Sanskrit word "अनुनी" (to follow or request), indicating the act of gently requesting or urging someone to do something. | |||
| Marathi | मन वळवणे | ||
| The word "मन वळवणे" can also mean "to distract" or "to divert". | |||
| Nepali | मनाउनु | ||
| The word 'मनाउनु' can also mean 'to appease' or 'to pacify'. | |||
| Punjabi | ਮਨਾਉਣਾ | ||
| The word "ਮਨਾਉਣਾ" comes from the root "मन" meaning "mind", and originally meant "to conciliate" or "to bring to one's senses". | |||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | ඒත්තු ගැන්වීම | ||
| Tamil | சம்மதிக்க | ||
| Telugu | ఒప్పించండి | ||
| The word 'ఒప్పించండి' in Telugu likely originated from the Sanskrit word 'उपसंजन' ('upasamjana'), which means 'to bring together' or 'to make agree'. | |||
| Urdu | قائل کرنا | ||
| The word "قائل کرنا" can also mean "to convince" or "to make someone believe something." | |||
Persuade in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 说服 | ||
| 说服 (shuō fú) means both 'persuade' and 'convince,' and it is derived from the classical Chinese character 説 (shuō), which has a broader meaning of 'explanation' or 'lecture'. | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 說服 | ||
| The character "說" in "說服" originally meant to "speak" or "explain", while "服" meant to "obey" or "submit". | |||
| Japanese | 言い聞かせる | ||
| The verb 言い聞かせる literally means "to tell and make hear." It's used to describe the act of patiently explaining something to someone until they understand and accept it. | |||
| Korean | 설득 | ||
| The word "설득" (persuade) in Korean is derived from the Middle Chinese word "説得," which means "to explain" or "to convince." | |||
| Mongolian | ятгах | ||
| The word "ятгах" can also mean "to convince", "to urge", or "to request" | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | ဆွဲဆောင်သည် | ||
Persuade in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | membujuk | ||
| Membujuk (persuade) in Indonesian ultimately derives from Sanskrit ॕ्वोध मोत (prayodhya, "to urge, encourage"). | |||
| Javanese | ngarih-arih | ||
| The word 'ngarih-arih' in Javanese can also mean 'to coax', 'to wheedle', or 'to sweet-talk'. | |||
| Khmer | បញ្ចុះបញ្ចូល | ||
| Lao | ຊັກຊວນ | ||
| The original meaning of ຊັກຊວນ was "to carry in a shoulder basket; to bear on the hip in a cloth". The current meaning, "to persuade," likely derived from this through the notion of coaxing or enticing to a particular direction. | |||
| Malay | memujuk | ||
| The term 'memujuk' in Malay may also refer to an attempt to pacify, appease, or charm someone. | |||
| Thai | ชักชวน | ||
| ชัก in ชักชวน originally implies the act of leading a child by the hand. | |||
| Vietnamese | truy vấn | ||
| "Truy vấn" (persuade in English) is a derivative of the Sino-Vietnamese word "thuyết phục" (persuade in Chinese). | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | manghikayat | ||
Persuade in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | inandırmaq | ||
| "Inandırmaq" means to make someone believe something, while "inanç" means faith or belief. | |||
| Kazakh | сендіру | ||
| The word "сендіру" ("persuade") in Kazakh is cognate with the word "son" ("end") and likely derives from the concept of guiding someone to a certain outcome. | |||
| Kyrgyz | ынандыруу | ||
| Tajik | бовар кунондан | ||
| Turkmen | yrmak | ||
| Uzbek | ishontirish | ||
| The word "ishontirish" derives from the word "ishonch" which means "faith" or "trust". | |||
| Uyghur | قايىل قىلىش | ||
Persuade in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | e hoohuli | ||
| The word "e hoohuli" can also mean "to bend" or "to change". | |||
| Maori | whakapati | ||
| The word 'whakapati' is related to the word 'pati,' which means 'to press or to squeeze,' and can also be used in a figurative sense to refer to persuasive speech. | |||
| Samoan | faatauanau | ||
| Faatauanau derives from the Polynesian root word tautua, meaning to serve or obey, and the prefix fa'a, which indicates the causative form. | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | manghimok | ||
Persuade in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | pirsuwarina | ||
| Guarani | roviauka | ||
Persuade in International Languages
| Esperanto | persvadi | ||
| "Persvadi" is a Latin word meaning "to convince" via argumentation. | |||
| Latin | suadere | ||
| In Latin suadere originally meant 'to propose, advise, counsel' but was later used as a synonym of persuadere 'to persuade'. | |||
Persuade in Others Languages
| Greek | πείθω | ||
| The Greek word "πείθω" (to persuade) derives from the Proto-Indo-European root "peik-", which signifies binding or tying, implying the binding of the intellect through conviction. | |||
| Hmong | yaum | ||
| The word "yaum" may also mean "ask" or "invite" in various Hmong dialects. | |||
| Kurdish | kaniîkirin | ||
| In Sorani Kurdish, kaniîkirin also means 'to guide', 'to lead', or 'to instruct'. | |||
| Turkish | ikna etmek | ||
| It comes from the Arabic word "ikna", which means "certainty" or "belief". | |||
| Xhosa | ukucenga | ||
| The word 'ukucenga' is derived from the verb 'ukucenga,' which means 'to ask' or 'to request'. | |||
| Yiddish | איבערצייגן | ||
| This Yiddish word, meaning "persuade," also means "to count" in Hebrew. | |||
| Zulu | kholisa | ||
| "Kholisa" originates from the Proto-Bantu verb "*-olisa," meaning to make something known or to show. | |||
| Assamese | মান্তি কৰোৱা | ||
| Aymara | pirsuwarina | ||
| Bhojpuri | फुसुलावल | ||
| Dhivehi | ބާރުއެޅުން | ||
| Dogri | राजी करना | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | manghikayat | ||
| Guarani | roviauka | ||
| Ilocano | awisen | ||
| Krio | mek dɛn du sɔntin | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | ڕازیکردن | ||
| Maithili | राजी करनाइ | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯊꯦꯝꯕ | ||
| Mizo | fuihpawrh | ||
| Oromo | amansiisuu | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | ମନାଇବା | ||
| Quechua | awnichiy | ||
| Sanskrit | उपब्रूते | ||
| Tatar | ышандыру | ||
| Tigrinya | ኣእምን | ||
| Tsonga | sindzisa | ||