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. Jeremy Loew:

   We understand that a search warrant was executed on Mr. Frazee's property, patrick Frazee was never asked to voluntarily participate in this search. We encourage law enforcement to take whatever steps it deems necessary to find Cheryl Berreth and to be able to exclude Patrick Frazee as a possible suspect in this missing person investigation. Patrick Frazee will continue not to participate in any interviews with the media and instead focus on parenting the child Patrick Frazee shares with Cheryl Berreth.

2. Jason Humbert:

   We encourage people to remain vigilant whether online or in a store, and avoid purchasing products marketed to treat cancer without any proof they will work. Patients should consult a health care professional about proper prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer. there's also concern that some of the products could interact with any medications or any other underlying conditions that consumers may have.

3. Saeed Abedini:

   I made a plan that I could talk to him, encourage him, the best thing I could do over there was praying.

4. Jack Biltis:

   We’re living in just a hugely interesting time and, really, we just want to be a part of it, we just know that we could be, as Arizona’s chosen to be, at the forefront of this time and encourage these new technologies. That’s just an exciting place to be.

5. Matthew Davis:

   As physicians nurses and public health officials engage hesitant parents to encourage them to vaccinate, it’s important to understand the full spectrum of reasons why parents are concerned about the risks of vaccines, when the precise reasons are clear there can be a respectful and effective conversation about the balance of benefits and risks.

Images & Illustrations of encourage

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