What does encourage mean?

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

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word encourage.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. promote, advance, boost, further, encourageverb

    contribute to the progress or growth of

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

  2. encourageverb

    inspire with confidence; give hope or courage to

  3. encourageverb

    spur on

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

Wiktionary

  1. encourageverb

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

    I encouraged him during his race.

  2. encourageverb

    To spur on, strongly recommend.

    We encourage the use of bicycles in the town centre.

  3. encourageverb

    To foster, give help or patronage

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

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

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. To Encourageverb

    Etymology: encourager, French.

    They encourage themselves in an evil matter. Ps. lxiv. 5.

    I would neither encourage the rebels, nor discourage the protestants loyalty. Charles I .

    I doubt not but there are ways to be found, to assist our reason in this most useful part; and this the judicious Hooker encourages me to say. John Locke.

Wikipedia

  1. encourage

    Courage International, also known as Courage Apostolate and Courage for short, is an approved apostolate of the Catholic Church that counsels "men and women with same-sex attractions in living chaste lives in fellowship, truth and love". Based on a treatment model for drug and alcohol addictions used in programs like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), Courage runs a peer support program aimed at helping gay people remain abstinent from same-sex sexual activity.The organization runs support groups led by a priest to encourage its members to abstain from acting on their homosexual desires and to live according to the teachings of the Catholic Church on homosexuality. Courage also has a ministry geared towards the relatives and friends of gay people called Encourage.The apostolate was endorsed by the Pontifical Council for the Family in 1994 through the statement of Alfonso Cardinal López Trujillo.Courage has received criticism from LGBT advocacy groups, such as New Ways Ministry, which say that Courage's methods are "problematic and very dangerous to people's spiritual health". In 2015, the Southern Poverty Law Center listed Courage International as one of the ten most prominent "ex-gay" anti-LGBT organizations.

ChatGPT

  1. encourage

    To encourage is to give support, confidence, or hope to someone. It involves motivating or stimulating them to continue or improve in something they're doing, often through positive reinforcement, compliments, and expressions of confidence in their abilities. This can apply to various aspects of life such as work, personal growth, or difficult challenges.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Encourageverb

    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

  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

  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  

Matched Categories

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?

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. Mark Russell:

    When we suspend play, we encourage everybody to leave and take shelter anywhere they can, we opened up hospitality areas that are grounded, a lot of other places like that. Youve got a lot of people, and you have to do that quickly, and sometimes people dont take shelter.

  2. Jonathan Mitchell:

    Sitting while using the Internet is one of many sedentary behaviors, parents can certainly encourage their children to be more active and help them manage their sedentary time in the home during their free time.

  3. Lindsey Graham:

    Given the recent controversies surrounding the director, I believe a fresh start will serve the FBI and the nation well, i encourage the President to select the most qualified professional available who will serve our nation's interests.

  4. David Schenker:

    I would work with our allies to dissuade them, or encourage them, to avoid military purchases that would be potentially sanctionable, in other words, I would tell Saudi Arabia not to do it.

  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.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

encourage#1#3433#10000

Translations for encourage

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

  • التشجيع, شجعArabic
  • поощрявам, насърчавам, окуражавамBulgarian
  • povzbuditCzech
  • opmuntre, anbefaleDanish
  • empfehlen, ermutigenGerman
  • instigi, vigligi, subteni, kuraĝigiEsperanto
  • animar, recomendar, alentarSpanish
  • julgustama, õhutamaEstonian
  • rohkaista, kannustaaFinnish
  • encouragerFrench
  • spreagIrish
  • המליץ, ראה בחיוב, עודדHebrew
  • प्रोत्साहित करनाHindi
  • biztat, támogat, bátorít, buzdít, felbátorítHungarian
  • mendorongIndonesian
  • incoraggiareItalian
  • 勇気付けるJapanese
  • 격려Korean
  • incito, adhortor, excito, hortor, corrōborō, animoLatin
  • whakatītinaMāori
  • patroneren, bemoedigen, aanmoedigen, bevorderen, steunenDutch
  • oppmuntre, anbefaleNorwegian
  • dopingować, popierać, wspieraćPolish
  • encorajarPortuguese
  • însufleți, încurajaRomanian
  • воодушеви́ть, обо́дрить, воодушевля́ть, поощри́ть, ободря́ть, поощря́ть, поощрятьRussian
  • uppmuntraSwedish
  • ஊக்குவிக்கTamil
  • ప్రోత్సాహముTelugu
  • cesaretlendirmek, teşvik etmekTurkish
  • khuyến khíchVietnamese
  • 鼓勵Chinese

Get even more translations for encourage »

Translation

Find a translation for the encourage definition in other languages:

Select another language:

  • - Select -
  • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
  • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
  • Español (Spanish)
  • Esperanto (Esperanto)
  • 日本語 (Japanese)
  • Português (Portuguese)
  • Deutsch (German)
  • العربية (Arabic)
  • Français (French)
  • Русский (Russian)
  • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
  • 한국어 (Korean)
  • עברית (Hebrew)
  • Gaeilge (Irish)
  • Українська (Ukrainian)
  • اردو (Urdu)
  • Magyar (Hungarian)
  • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
  • Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Italiano (Italian)
  • தமிழ் (Tamil)
  • Türkçe (Turkish)
  • తెలుగు (Telugu)
  • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
  • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
  • Čeština (Czech)
  • Polski (Polish)
  • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Românește (Romanian)
  • Nederlands (Dutch)
  • Ελληνικά (Greek)
  • Latinum (Latin)
  • Svenska (Swedish)
  • Dansk (Danish)
  • Suomi (Finnish)
  • فارسی (Persian)
  • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
  • հայերեն (Armenian)
  • Norsk (Norwegian)
  • English (English)

Word of the Day

Would you like us to send you a FREE new word definition delivered to your inbox daily?

Please enter your email address:


Citation

Use the citation below to add this definition to your bibliography:

Style:MLAChicagoAPA

"encourage." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 18 Mar. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/encourage>.

Discuss these encourage definitions with the community:

0 Comments

    Are we missing a good definition for encourage? Don't keep it to yourself...

    Image or illustration of

    encourage

    Credit »

    Free, no signup required:

    Add to Chrome

    Get instant definitions for any word that hits you anywhere on the web!

    Free, no signup required:

    Add to Firefox

    Get instant definitions for any word that hits you anywhere on the web!

    Browse Definitions.net

    Quiz

    Are you a words master?

    »
    of surpassing excellence
    A noninvasive
    B witless
    C profound
    D brilliant

    Nearby & related entries:

    Alternative searches for encourage: