Definitions for encourage
ɛnˈkɜr ɪdʒ, -ˈkʌr-en·cour·age

Princeton's WordNet(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. promote, advance, boost, further, encourage(verb)

   contribute to the progress or growth of

   "I am promoting the use of computers in the classroom"

2. encourage(verb)

   inspire with confidence; give hope or courage to

3. encourage(verb)

   spur on

   "His financial success encouraged him to look for a wife"

Wiktionary(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. encourage(Verb)

   To mentally support; to motivate, give courage, hope or spirit.

   I encouraged him during his race.

   Etymology: encoragen, from encoragier, from encoragier from "courage". Displaced native belden (from bieldan), bealden (from bealdian), herten (from hiertan), elnian.

2. encourage(Verb)

   To spur on, strongly recommend.

   We encourage the use of bicycles in the town centre.

   Etymology: encoragen, from encoragier, from encoragier from "courage". Displaced native belden (from bieldan), bealden (from bealdian), herten (from hiertan), elnian.

3. encourage(Verb)

   To foster, give help or patronage

   The royal family has always encouraged the arts in word and deed

   Etymology: encoragen, from encoragier, from encoragier from "courage". Displaced native belden (from bieldan), bealden (from bealdian), herten (from hiertan), elnian.

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Encourage(verb)

   to give courage to; to inspire with courage, spirit, or hope; to raise, or to increase, the confidence of; to animate; enhearten; to incite; to help forward; -- the opposite of discourage

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Encourage

   en-kur′āj, v.t. to put courage in: to inspire with spirit or hope: to incite: to patronise: to cherish.—ns. Encour′agement, act of encouraging: that which encourages; Encour′ager,—p.adj. Encour′aging, giving ground to hope for success.—adv. Encour′agingly. [O. Fr. encoragier (Fr. encourager)—en, to make, corage, courage.]

Editors Contribution(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. encourage

   Give support, motivation, confidence and positivity to each other.

   Cheerleaders cheering a football game in the crowd

   Submitted by JP03 on February 15, 2015  

2. encourage

   Give support, motivation, confidence, optimism and positivity to each other.

   We encourage each other to achieve knowing we are a united humanity working together with universal beings for the optimum health and shared prosperity of all animals, human beings and living organisms on planet earth.

   Submitted by MaryC on April 1, 2020  

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'encourage' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #2056

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'encourage' in Written Corpus Frequency: #2187

3. Verbs Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'encourage' in Verbs Frequency: #200

How to pronounce encourage?

1. 

   Alex

   US English

   

   Daniel

   British

   

   Karen

   Australian

   

   Veena

   Indian

How to say encourage in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of encourage in Chaldean Numerology is: 1

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of encourage in Pythagorean Numerology is: 8

Examples of encourage in a Sentence

1. Barry Wynn:

   The governor would obviously like to see that there is enthusiastic and widespread and diverse support for his campaign, i would say that you’re doing very well in South Carolina, and I would certainly encourage him to run.

2. Ali Abdulaziz:

   The political process is stumbling. Parties encourage each other to fight and these political games prolong the war, may God calm the situation so that there is any political solution, we want to go back to our country.

3. Corey Feldman:

   I want to be very clear. I stand for any and all victims of sexual abuse or assault, as a survivor and someone who has been fighting for this to become a focal topic of our society for decades and is fighting diligently to abolish the statutes of limitations across the country, I applaud all victims for letting their voices be heard and I encourage the public debate to continue.

4. Rebecca Mikula-Wright:

   If investors see strong and positive policy signals that encourage deeper emissions reductions by 2030, and a clear path to net-zero emissions by mid-century, they will respond with greater investment in clean technology and climate-resilient infrastructure.

5. Kevin Brady:

   I want to thank our Members on both sides of the aisle for their important work on this bill, and I encourage quick action so we can provide certainty to these families whose parents paid the ultimate price.

Images & Illustrations of encourage

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