encourage

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See also: encouragé

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle English encouragen, encoragen, from Anglo-Norman encoragier, from Old French encoragier. Displaced native Old English hiertan, tyhtan, and trymman.

Pronunciation

Verb

encourage (third-person singular simple present encourages, present participle encouraging, simple past and past participle encouraged) (transitive)

  1. To mentally support; to motivate, give courage, hope or spirit.
    Synonyms: bield, embolden; see also Thesaurus:incite
    Antonyms: discourage, dishearten
    I encouraged him during his race.
    Delia's coach encouraged her to focus on the positives.
    • 2024 October 30, Paul Clifton, “How can freight be a major part of rail's future?”, in RAIL, number 1021, page 57:
      "It's a lose-lose situation. It can be turned into a win-win. We should be encouraging and supporting expensive bi-mode freight locomotives, especially where capacity is constrained.
  2. To spur on, strongly recommend.
    Synonyms: exhort; see also Thesaurus:advise
    We encourage the use of bicycles in the town centre.
    We encourage you to cycle instead of taking the car.
  3. To foster, give help or patronage.
    Synonyms: promote; see also Thesaurus:nurture
    The royal family has always encouraged the arts in word and deed.
    • 1987 December 20, Tim Scaggs, “No Other Choice But To Go On A Hunger Strike”, in Gay Community News, volume 15, number 23, page 5:
      They remove all sense of self-responsibility from us prisoners. We have virtually no control over any aspect of our lives. This does not encourage our ability to return to community life outside.

Derived terms

Translations

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French

Pronunciation

Verb

encourage

  1. inflection of encourager:
    1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
    2. singular imperative