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

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

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(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. encourageverb

   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. encourageverb

   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. encourageverb

   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. 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(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  

Matched Categories

1. • Induce
   • Inspire
   • Support

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

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

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. John Lynch:

   What a privilege to be inducted in this brotherhood, it takes a lot of belief to get to this stage. However, belief has to be nurtured time and time again. One person can make a difference. I encourage each and every one of you to be that person.

2. Mickey Mehta:

   Never brood over the past, for every saint has had a past and every criminal has a future. Encourage transformation and MickeyMize someone's life." Share this as every demon has the potential to become divine.

3. Heritage Action:

   Amnesty comes in many forms, if any amnesty negotiations are to take place, they should remain extremely limited in scope so as not to encourage further illegal immigration.

4. Shanghai Pharma:

   The government has recently announced a series of policies to encourage the development of online pharmacy and we expect this area to be a huge market opportunity.

5. Karl Racine:

   Let it be known that the office of attorney general has a potential charge that it may utilize, it's law in DC since 2011. It makes illegal the statements of individuals that clearly encourage, cajole, and otherwise, you know, get people motivated to commit violence.

Images & Illustrations of encourage

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