evince, v.
(ɪˈvɪns)
[ad. L. ēvincĕre, f. ē out + vincĕre to conquer. (For the Lat. senses see evict.)]
† 1. trans. To overcome, subdue, prevail over.
| 1620 Venner Via Recta viii. 167 Because it cannot be concocted, and euinced of nature, [it] filleth the body with crude..humours. 1650 T. Hubbert Pill Formality 100 They will keep their hold until they be evinced and cast out. 1671 Milton P.R. iv. 235 Error by his own arms is best evinc't. 1678 H. Vaughan Thalia Rediv., Day-spring, My Prince Whose fulness no need could evince. |
† 2. To convince. Also
absol. Obs.| 1621 I. C. in T. Bedford's Serm. sig. I. 6 a, Whether their..Consciences bee not..euidently euinced of the truth of the Gospell. 1664 Power Exp. Philos. Pref. 7 Such, I am sure our modern Engine [the Microscope] will ocularly evince and unlearn them their opinions. 1668 Hale Pref. to Rolle's Abridgm. 2 His arguments were fitted to prove and evince, not for ostentation, plain yet learned. 1670 G. H. Hist. Cardinals i. i. 13 The principal drift of his discourse was to evince the people, that the Religious were oblig'd to reprehend the Errors..of all people. |
† b. To confute, convict of error.
Obs.| 1608–11 Bp. Hall Epist. vi. §5 Were we euer the true Church of God? Who hath admonished, euinced, excommunicated, us? 1661 Cowley Advanc. Exper. Philos., The Popular and received Errors in Experimental Philosophy..shall be evinced by tryal. 1672 Sir P. Leycester Prolegom. in Ormerod Cheshire (1880) I. 29 Not evinced by any solid answer or reason to the contrary. |
† 3. To constrain, compel (assent), extort (concessions, etc.) by force of argument or persuasive motives.
Obs.| 1631 T. Adams in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 149 His profession of love..of readiness to assist in any thing..all which evince my most grateful acknowledgment. a 1658 Cleveland Gen. Poems, etc. (1677) 170, I shall wave the Arguments wherewith you endeavour to evince our Consent. |
† 4. To prove by argument or evidence; to establish. Also,
rarely, To prove the rightness of, vindicate. Const.
a. with simple
obj.;
b. with
obj. clause;
c. with
inf. To prove (a person or thing) to be (so and so);
d. absol. Obs.| a. 1610 Bp. Hall Apol. Brownists §5 Wee holde, and wish no lesse; your places evince no more. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. Democr. (1676) 11/1 You shall see by what..arguments I will evince it, that most men are mad. 1661 Boyle Examen iii. (1682) 20 Having said thus much to evince against Mr. Hobbs the Gravity of the Air. 1709 Strype Ann. Ref. I. xx. 247 Who did..make it their business in their sermons to prove and evince the present proceedings in religion. 1738 Warburton Div. Legat. I. 77 We require no more to evince the Falshood of that Assertion. |
| b. 1611 Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. vi. ix. 80 Our former allegations doe euince that, etc. 1695 Woodward Nat. Hist. Earth i. (1723) 16 Having detected the Insufficiency of them, by evincing how far they are from being conclusive. 1767 Gooch Treat. Wounds I. 419 We want not instances from lithotomy to evince, that wounds of this part are curable. |
| c. 1635 Jackson Creed viii. xx. Wks. VIII. 39 Judicious commentators do clearly evince this form of congratulation Hosanna to be precatory. 1647 Lilly Chr. Astrol. clxxvii. 750 {saturn}—being in ♉ an earthly Signe—will evince the Native to accumulate Wealth by Pastorage, Tillage, etc. 1667 Naphtali Postscr. (1761) 276 They will evince him to be the archest traitor that ever Scotland bred. 1709 Strype Ann. Ref. I. xi. 136 The practice of the lawyers..evinced this and the rest to be good laws. |
| d. Bp. Hall Cases Consc. ii. v. (1654) 116 The Accuser complaines, the Witnesse evinceth, the Judge sentences. |
5. To be an indication or evidence of; to make evident or manifest. Const.
a. with simple
obj.;
b. with
obj. clause or preceded by
as.
| a. 1772–84 Cook Voy. (1790) IV. 1481 Their pacific disposition is thoroughly evinced, from their friendly reception of all strangers. 1802 Paley Nat. Theol. xxvi. (1819) 465 The contrivances of nature decidedly evince intention. 1811 J. Pinkerton Petral. I. 597 The presence of..resin, and fibre, are esteemed to evince the original vegetable character. a 1866 Grote Eth. Fragm. iii. (1876) 52 Nothing can more clearly evince the preponderance of this view. |
| b. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. ii. ii. vi. iii. (1651) 299 Fishes..which, as common experience evinceth, are much affected with music. 1702 W. J. Bruyn's Voy. Levant vii. 22 The Ruins that are round about do sufficiently evince that anciently there were great Buildings in this Place. 1726 Leoni tr. Alberti's Archit. I. 40 b, A Tower..made its way thro' the ground it stood upon, which, as the fact evinced, was a loose weak soil. 1779 J. Moore View Soc. Fr. (1789) I. vii. 45 What is mentioned in my last letter..evinces how very opposite their sentiments are. 1864 Bowen Logic xi. 359 These considerations appear to me to evince very clearly, that [etc.]. |
6. To give tokens of possessing; to reveal the presence of (a quality, condition, feeling); to display, exhibit, manifest.
| 1829 Scott Rob. Roy Introd. 18 The knees and upper part of the leg..evincing muscular strength. 1853 C. Brontë Villette xxxvii. (1876) 420 His answers..evinced both wisdom and integrity. 1879 Hare B'ness Bunsen I. iii. 65 The extreme truthfulness..of both her father and mother is so quaintly evinced in the following letter. |
b. refl. To show oneself (to be)
so and so.
| 1804–8 Foster in Life & Corr. (1846) I. 267, I evince myself a social man. |