influence

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English

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Etymology

From Middle English, from Old French influence (“emanation from the stars affecting one's fate”), from Medieval Latin īnfluentia, from Latin īnfluēns (“flowing in”), present active participle of īnfluō (“flow into”), from in- (“in-”) + fluō (“flow”).

Pronunciation

Noun

influence (countable and uncountable; plural influences)

  1. The power to affect, control or manipulate something or someone; the ability to change the development of fluctuating things such as conduct, thoughts or decisions.
    I have absolutely no influence over him.
  2. An action exerted by a person or thing with such power on another to cause change.
    I'm not able to exercise influence over him.
  3. A person or thing exerting such power or action.
    He has been a great influence on the voters during the elections.
  4. (astrology) An element believed to determine someone's character or individual tendencies, caused by the position of the stars and planets at the time of one's birth.
  5. (obsolete) The action of flowing in; influx.
  6. (electricity) electrostatic induction.

Usage notes

  • Adjectives often applied to "influence": cultural, political, social, economic, military, personal, moral, intellectual, mental, good, bad, positive, negative, beneficial, harmful, huge, big, heavy, significant, important, potential, actual, primary.

Related terms

Translations

power to affect, control or manipulate
action exerted by a person or thing with power to cause change
person or thing exerting such power or action
(astrology) element determining someone's character or individual tendencies
action of flowing in; influx — see influx
electrostatic induction
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Verb

influence (third-person singular simple present influences, present participle influencing, simple past and past participle influenced)

  1. (transitive) To affect by gentle action; to exert an influence upon; to modify, bias, or sway; to persuade or induce.
    The politician wants to influence the public.
    I must admit that this book influenced my outlook on life.
  2. (intransitive) To exert, make use of one's influence.
  3. (transitive, obsolete) To cause to flow in or into; infuse; instill.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

transitive: to exert an influence upon
intransitive: to exert influence
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

Statistics

French

Etymology

From Medieval Latin īnfluentia, from Latin īnfluēns (“flowing in”), present active participle of īnfluō (“flow into”), from in- (“in-”) + fluō (“flow”).

Pronunciation

Noun

influence f (plural influences)

  1. influence

Related terms

Verb

influence

  1. first-person singular present indicative of influencer
  2. third-person singular present indicative of influencer
  3. first-person singular present subjunctive of influencer
  4. third-person singular present subjunctive of influencer
  5. second-person singular imperative of influencer

Old French

Noun

influence f (oblique plural influences, nominative singular influence, nominative plural influences)

  1. inundation; flooding; influx of water
  2. influence, especially viewed as a mystical force affecting one's fate
    • Par l'influance des estoiles
      By the influence of the stars

Descendants

References

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