Influence

Part of speech: noun, verb

Pronunciation: /ˈɪn.flu.əns/

Definitions

1. The power to affect someone's beliefs, actions, or decisions through example, persuasion, or authority
2. The capacity to shape or alter the thoughts, behaviors, or choices of others through guidance, persuasion, or authority
3. The ability to sway or mold the convictions, actions, or judgments of individuals through examples, persuasion, or pressure

Etymology: The most surprising thing about "influence" is that it began as an astrological term. Latin "influere" meant "to flow in," and medieval Latin "influentia" described the invisible fluid that the stars were thought to pour down onto the earth and onto human fates. A person's temperament or luck was said to be shaped by these celestial flows. The word passed through Old French "influence" and reached Middle English, where it kept that sense of a mysterious force streaming from above. Only gradually did it loosen from the heavens and come to mean the ability to shape people or events by ordinary means, such as persuasion, example or authority. Its sister word is "influenza." Both descend from the same Latin root, and the disease got its name because people in Italy long believed illness, like the stars' effects, arrived through a celestial influence. The two words are doublets, having split apart in English and taken on different meanings.

Synonyms: affect, alter, shape, sway, guide

Antonyms: ignore, neglect, repel, dissuade, discourage