convict

English

Etymology

From Middle English convicten, from Anglo-Norman convicter, from Latin convictus, the past participle of convincō (“to convict”). Doublet of convince. Displaced native Old English forwyrċan (“to convict, condemn”).

Pronunciation

• Verb
  • enPR: kənvĭktʹ, IPA^(key): /kənˈvɪkt/

  • Audio (US); “convict” (verb):

    (file)

  • Rhymes: -ɪkt
• Noun
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒnvɪkt/
  • (General American) enPR: kŏnʹvĭkt; IPA^(key): /ˈkɑnvɪkt/

  • Audio (US); “convict” (noun):

    (file)

• Hyphenation: con‧vict

Verb

convict (third-person singular simple present convicts, present participle convicting, simple past and past participle convicted)

2. (transitive, law) To find guilty, as a result of legal proceedings, or (informal) in a moral sense.

   Synonyms: sentence, (informal) disapprove; see also Thesaurus:convict

   He was a convicted felon.

   His remarks convicted him of a lack of sensitivity.

   • 1936, Robert Frost, “The Vindictives”, in A Further Range:

     And his subjects wrung all they could wring / Out of temple and palace and store. / But when there seemed no more to bring, / His captors convicted the king / Of once having started a war, / And strangled the wretch with a string.

4. (chiefly religion, ethics) To convince, persuade; to cause (someone) to believe in (something).

   Synonyms: bring round, convince, win over; see also Thesaurus:persuade

   • 2025 October 16, EV.com Staff, quoting RJ Scaringe, “Rivian CEO Stands Firm on Skipping Apple CarPlay, Calls It a “Convicted” Decision”, in EV.com‎^[1]:

     Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe is standing by his decision not to integrate Apple’s CarPlay into the company’s EVs, even as rivals embrace it. […] Speaking on The Verge’s Decoder podcast, Scaringe said Rivian aims to build a “seamless digital experience” entirely within its own software ecosystem. This means that Rivian will simply be offering native access to key apps like Apple Music, Spotify, Google Maps, and YouTube, according to MacRumors. […] Rivian’s software approach mirrors that of Tesla, which also relies on its own app integrations rather than Apple’s. […] The Rivian CEO added that the company is preparing to introduce AI-powered features within 18 months, including native voice-to-text messaging. Scaringe said this upcoming AI suite will further justify the brand’s decision to control the in-vehicle experience. “We’re really convicted on this,” the CEO said. While he acknowledged that some customers may avoid Rivian due to the lack of CarPlay, Scaringe said he’s “very confident” in the choice. “Some of those decisions not everyone’s going to agree with,” he said. “That’s okay.”

Derived terms

• convictable
• nonconvicted
• reconvict
• self-convicted
• unconvict
• unconvicted

Related terms

• conviction
• courage of one's convictions

Translations

to find guilty

• Arabic: أَدَانَ (ʔadāna)
• Armenian: դատապարտել (hy) (datapartel)
• Azerbaijani: məhkum etmək
• Belarusian: асуджа́ць impf (asudžácʹ), асудзі́ць pf (asudzícʹ)
• Bulgarian: осъ́ждам (bg) impf (osǎ́ždam), осъ́дя pf (osǎ́dja), признава́м за вино́вен impf (priznavám za vinóven)
• Catalan: condemnar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 判罪 (zh) (pànzuì), 定罪 (zh) (dìngzuì)

• Czech: odsuzovat (cs) impf, odsoudit (cs) pf, usvědčovat impf, usvědčit (cs) pf
• Dutch: veroordelen (nl), vonnissen (nl)
• Esperanto: kondamni
• Finnish: todeta syylliseksi (legally), paheksua (fi) (morally)
• French: condamner (fr)
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: verurteilen (de)
• Greek: καταδικάζω (el) (katadikázo)

  Ancient Greek: ἐξελέγχω (exelénkhō)

• Hebrew: הִרְשִׁיעַ (he) (hirshía)
• Hungarian: elítél (hu)
• Indonesian: menyatakan bersalah
• Irish: daor, ciontaigh
• Italian: condannare (it)
• Japanese: 宣告する (senkoku suru)
• Khmer: ទណ្ឌិត (tŭəndɨt)
• Latin: damnō
• Lithuanian: nuteisti, pripažinti kaltu
• Macedonian: осудува impf (osuduva), осуди pf (osudi)
• Māori: whakahara
• Mari:

  Eastern Mari: судитлаш (suditlaš)

• Old English: forwyrċan
• Persian: محکوم کردن (fa) (mahkum kardan)
• Polish: skazywać (pl) impf, skazać (pl) pf
• Portuguese: condenar (pt)
• Russian: осужда́ть (ru) impf (osuždátʹ), осуди́ть (ru) pf (osudítʹ), признава́ть вино́вным impf (priznavátʹ vinóvnym), призна́ть вино́вным pf (priznátʹ vinóvnym), пригова́ривать (ru) impf (prigovárivatʹ), приговори́ть (ru) pf (prigovorítʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: пресуђи́вати impf, пресу́дити pf, осуђи́вати impf, осу́дити pf

  Latin: presuđívati impf, presúditi (sh) pf, osuđívati (sh) impf, osúditi (sh) pf

• Slovak: odsudzovať impf, odsúdiť pf, usvedčovať impf, usvedčiť pf
• Slovene: obsoditi pf
• Spanish: condenar (es), sentenciar (es), culpabilizar (es)
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: mahkum etmek (tr), hüküm giydirmek
• Ukrainian: засу́джувати impf (zasúdžuvaty), засуди́ти pf (zasudýty), прису́джувати impf (prysúdžuvaty), присуди́ти pf (prysudýty)
• Vietnamese: kết án (vi)
• Yiddish: פֿאַרמשפּטן (farmshptn)

to convince (someone of a belief)

• Japanese: 思わせる (ja) (omowaseru), 思わす (ja) (omowasu), 信念させる (shinnen saseru)
• Spanish: convencer (es)

Noun

convict (plural convicts)

2. (law) A person convicted of a crime by a judicial body.

   Synonyms: assigned servant, con, government man, (historical) public servant

3. A person deported to a penal colony.

   Synonym: penal colonist

4. The convict cichlid (Amatitlania nigrofasciata), also known as the zebra cichlid, a popular aquarium fish, with stripes that resemble a prison uniform.
5. A common name for the sheepshead (Archosargus probatocephalus), owing to its black and gray stripes.

Derived terms

• con
• convict hour
• convictism
• ex-convict

Translations

person convicted of a crime

• Arabic: سَجِين m (sajīn), مُدَان m (mudān)
• Armenian: դատապարտյալ (hy) (datapartyal)
• Azerbaijani: məhkum (az)
• Belarusian: засу́джаны m (zasúdžany), асу́джаны m (asúdžany)
• Bulgarian: осъ́ден (bg) m (osǎ́den)
• Burmese: ထောင်သား (my) (htaungsa:)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 囚犯 (zh) (qiúfàn), 已決犯 / 已决犯 (zh) (yǐjuéfàn)

• Czech: odsouzený (cs) m
• Dutch: veroordeelde (nl) m or f
• Esperanto: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: tuomittu (fi), vanki (fi), rangaistusvanki
• French: criminel (fr) m
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: Sträfling (de) m
• Greek: κατάδικος (el) m or f (katádikos)
• Hungarian: elítélt (hu)
• Indonesian: terpidana (id), narapidana (id)
• Italian: condannato (it) m, carcerato (it) m
• Japanese: 受刑者 (ja) (じゅけいしゃ, jūkeisha), 犯罪者 (ja) (はんざいしゃ, hanzaisha), 囚人 (ja) (しゅうじん, shūjin)
• Khmer: ទណ្ឌិត (tŭəndɨt)
• Korean: 기결수(旣決囚) (ko) (gigyeolsu), 재소자(在所者) (ko) (jaesoja), 죄수(罪囚) (ko) (joesu)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: mehkûm (ku), hikimxwarî

• Lithuanian: (kaltu) nuteistasis m, nuteistoji f
• Macedonian: осуденик m (osudenik)
• Malay: banduan (ms)
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: straffange m

  Nynorsk: straffange m

• Persian: مجرم (fa) (mojrem), گناهکار (fa) (gonâhkâr)
• Plautdietsch: Vebräakja m
• Polish: skazaniec (pl) m
• Portuguese: condenado (pt) m
• Russian: осуждённый (ru) m (osuždjónnyj)
• Slovak: odsúdený m, odsúdenec m
• Spanish: convicto m
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: mahkûm (tr), hükümlü (tr)
• Ukrainian: засу́джений m (zasúdženyj), осу́джений m (osúdženyj)
• Vietnamese: bị cáo (vi)

person deported to a penal colony

• Bulgarian: като́ржник (bg) m (katóržnik)
• Czech: odsouzený (cs) m, mukl (cs) (slang)
• Dutch: strafkolonist m
• Finnish: vanki (fi)
• French: bagnard (fr) m
• Greek: εξόριστος (el) m (exóristos), κατάδικος (el) m or f (katádikos)
• Italian: deportato (it)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: straffange m

  Nynorsk: straffange m

• Russian: осуждённый (ru) m (osuždjónnyj), заключённый (ru) (zaključónnyj), з/к (z/k) (abbreviation), зэк (ru) (zɛk) (slang), ка́торжник (ru) m (kátoržnik), коло́дник (ru) m (kolódnik)

Further reading

• convict on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from German Konvikt.

Noun

convict n (plural convicte)

1. (Bukovina) boarding school

   Synonym: internat

Declension

	singular			plural
	indefinite	definite		indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	convict	convictul		convicte	convictele
genitive-dative	convict	convictului		convicte	convictelor
vocative	convictule			convictelor

References

• convict in Academia Română, Micul dicționar academic, ediția a II-a, Bucharest: Univers Enciclopedic, 2010. →ISBN