Etymograph

English

convince

Convince comes from Latin convincō ‘to refute, prove’, from vincō ‘to conquer, vanquish’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyk- ‘to overcome’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyk-1‘to overcome’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*winékti ~ *winkénti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*winkō1‘to conquer, overcome’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvincō2‘to conquer, vanquish’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEconvincō2‘to refute, prove’
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1606convince2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin vinco
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English convince
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1606, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Macbeth: “[…]his two Chamberlaines / Will I with Wine, and…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyk-Wiktionary, Latin vinco‘to overcome’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*winékti ~ *winkéntiWiktionary, Latin vincoreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*winkōWiktionary, Latin vinco‘to conquer, overcome’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvincōWiktionary, English convince‘to conquer, vanquish’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEconvincōWiktionary, English convince‘to refute, prove’
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1606convinceWiktionary, English convince. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1606, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Macbeth: “[…]his two Chamberlaines / Will I with Wine, and…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *weyk- ‘to overcome’

victim, weakness, witch, wicked, victor, province, wo, iconic, icon, wight, weakly, vicar, wile, waw, ancona, 33 more

through Latin vincō ‘to conquer, vanquish’

victory, victorious, eviction, invincible, evict, vanquish, 11 more

Today it means

verb To make someone believe, or feel sure about something, especially by using logic, argument or evidence.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “convince”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin vinco. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *weyk- / convince

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