Noun

(en noun)

The act of persuading, or trying to do so; the addressing of arguments to someone with the intention of changing their mind or convincing them of a certain point of view, course of action etc.

* 2006 , Rachel Morris, "Borderline Catastrophe", Washington Monthly , vol. 38:10:

With the base unleashed, the White House was unable to broker a compromise, either by persuasion or by pressure.

An argument or other statement intended to influence one's opinions or beliefs; a way of persuading someone.

* 1928 , "The New Pictures", Time , 13 Feb 1928:

Sadie curses, weeps, then, infected by Mr. Hamilton's writhing persuasions , prays and becomes penitent.

A strongly held conviction, opinion or belief.

It is his persuasion that abortion should never be condoned.

One's ability or power to influence someone's opinions or feelings; persuasiveness.

A specified religious adherence, a creed; any school of thought or ideology.

* 2009 , US Catholic (letter), May 2009:

As a convert from the Baptist persuasion more than 40 years ago, I still feel like an outsider in the church despite the kindness and acceptance of Catholic friends.

(colloquial) Any group having a specified characteristic or attribute in common.

* 2010 , "We don't need gay stereotypes", The Guardian , 6 Feb 2010:

Social understanding and equality can neither be nurtured through fear, nor intimidation. Surely this goes for people of all sexual persuasions .

Noun

(philosophy) An abstract archetype of a given thing, compared to which real-life examples are seen as imperfect approximations; pure essence, as opposed to actual examples.

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-10-19, volume=409, issue=8858, magazine=(The Economist)

, title= Trouble at the lab , passage=The idea that the same experiments always get the same results, no matter who performs them, is one of the cornerstones of science’s claim to objective truth. If a systematic campaign of replication does not lead to the same results, then either the original research is flawed (as the replicators claim) or the replications are (as many of the original researchers on priming contend). Either way, something is awry.}}

(obsolete) The conception of someone or something as representing a perfect example; an ideal.

(obsolete) The form or shape of something; a quintessential aspect or characteristic.

*, II.6:

The remembrance whereof (which yet I beare deepely imprinted in my minde) representing me her visage and Idea so lively and so naturally, doth in some sort reconcile me unto her.

An image of an object that is formed in the mind or recalled by the memory.

More generally, any result of mental activity; a thought, a notion; a way of thinking.

*

, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=3 , passage=Now all this was very fine, but not at all in keeping with the Celebrity's character as I had come to conceive it. The idea that adulation ever cloyed on him was ludicrous in itself. In fact I thought the whole story fishy, and came very near to saying so.}}

* 1952 , (Alfred Whitney Griswold)

Ideas won't go to jail.

A conception in the mind of something to be done; a plan for doing something, an (l).

* , chapter=3

, title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=My hopes wa'n't disappointed. I never saw clams thicker than they was along them inshore flats. I filled my dreener in no time, and then it come to me that 'twouldn't be a bad idee to get a lot more, take 'em with me to Wellmouth, and peddle 'em out. Clams was fairly scarce over that side of the bay and ought to fetch a fair price.}}

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-01, volume=407, issue=8838, page=71, magazine=(The Economist)

, title= End of the peer show , passage=Finance is seldom romantic. But the idea of peer-to-peer lending comes close. This is an industry that brings together individual savers and lenders on online platforms. Those that want to borrow are matched with those that want to lend.}}

A vague or fanciful (l); a feeling or hunch; an impression.

(music) A musical theme or melodic subject.