INFLUENCE • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Influence

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/ˈɪnfluəns/ Listen

noun

Influence n.

1.

A flowing in or upon; influx. (Obs.) "God hath his influence into the very essence of all things."

2.

Hence, in general, the bringing about of an effect, physical or moral, by a gradual process; controlling power quietly exerted; agency, force, or tendency of any kind which affects, modifies, or sways; as, the influence which the sun exerts on animal and vegetable life; the influence of education on the mind; the influence, according to astrologers, of the stars over affairs. "Astrologers call the evil influences of the stars, evil aspects." "Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?" "She said: "Ah, dearest lord! what evil star On you hath frown'd, and poured, his influence bad?""

3.

Power or authority arising from elevated station, excelence of character or intellect, wealth, etc.; reputation; acknowledged ascendency; as, he is a man of influence in the community. "Such influence hath your excellency."

4.

(Elec.) Induction.

Synonyms: Control; persuasion; ascendency; sway; power; authority; supremacy; mastery; management; restraint; character; reputation; prestige.

verb

Influence v. t. (past & past part. influenced; pres. part. influencing) To control or move by power, physical or moral; to affect by gentle action; to exert an influence upon; to modify, bias, or sway; to affect; to move; to persuade; to induce. "These experiments succeed after the same manner in vacuo as in the open air, and therefore are not influenced by the weight or pressure of the atmosphere." "This standing revelation... is sufficient to influence their faith and practice, if they attend." "The principle which influenced their obedience has lost its efficacy."

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Etymology of 'Influence'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Influence" Quotes from Famous Books

... with regard to the influence of evil spirits at this day upon the SOULS of men, I shall take leave to be a great deal more peremptory.—(Then, having stated the various proofs, he adds,) All this, I say, is so manifest to every ...

— Life Of Johnson, Volume 4 (of 6) • Boswell

... used as a pattern for the little garments the three women sewed with such tender interest, consecrated with such tender tears; or news of the war fresh from Lisha who "was goin' to see it through ef he come home without a leg to stand on." A cheery, hopeful, wholesome influence she brought with her, and all the house seemed to brighten as she sat there freeing her mind upon every subject that came up, from the delicate little shirts Mrs. Sterling knit in spite of failing eyesight, to the fall of Richmond, which, the prophetic ...

— Work: A Story of Experience • Louisa May Alcott

... families with which he was allied, his father having been a son of younger sons, in a date when primogeniture prevailed in all this bay region; and therefore, possessing nothing, he went into the war against England as a sailor, and his family influence obtained for him command of the new privateer launched on the Manokin, the Ida, which set sail with a good crew and superior armament, amid the acclaims of all Somerset, and, sailing past the Capes into the ocean with all her bunting flying, slid down the farther world to everlasting ...

— The Entailed Hat - Or, Patty Cannon's Times • George Alfred Townsend

... there. Well, sir, just about the time I got started, the war broke out; and it knocked my paint higher than a kite. The thing dropped perfectly dead. I presume that if I'd had any sort of influence, I might have got it into Government hands, for gun-carriages and army wagons, and may be on board Government vessels. But I hadn't, and we had to face the music. I was about broken-hearted, but m'wife she looked at it another way. 'I guess it's a providence,' says she. 'Silas, ...

— Henry James, Jr. • William Dean Howells

... saying," said Tigranes, "and it may be that we shall never understand it. It is better to consider the things that are near at hand, and to increase the influence of the Magi in their own country, rather than to look for one who may be a stranger, and to whom we must ...

— The Blue Flower, and Others • Henry van Dyke

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