persuade (English)

Where does "persuade" come from?

The English verb 'persuade' derives directly from the Latin verb 'persuādeō', meaning 'I persuade'[1]. Within Latin, this verb was formed as a compound joining the intensifying prefix 'per-', meaning 'thoroughly', with 'suādeō', meaning 'to advise'[2]. Ultimately, the base verb traces back to the Proto-Indo-European root '*sweh₂d-', which relates to sweetness and pleasantness.

Open questions

• The ultimate connection to the Proto-Indo-European reconstructed root '*sweh₂d-' relies on historical linguistic reconstruction rather than direct written evidence.

Full etymology tree

• persuade (English), 'To successfully convince (someone) to agree to, accept, or do something, usually through reasoning and verbal influence.'
  • derived persuadeo (Latin), 'to persuade, convince'
    • affix per- (Latin), 'Used to make adjectives or verbs that are "very" something.'
    • affix suadeo (Latin), 'to recommend, advise'

Ancestors

• *sweh₂d- (Proto-Indo-European)

Descendants and derived words

• mispersuade (English)
• overpersuade (English)
• persuadability (English)
• persuadable (English)
• persuadable (English)
• persuadee (English)
• persuader (English)
• persuasion (English)
• persuasive (English)
• persuasive (English)
• persuasory (English)
• repersuade (English)

Sources

1. persuade (English) - Wiktionary
2. persuadeo (Latin) - Wiktionary

Updated September 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris