encourage

• incourage (archaic)

From Middle English encouragen, encoragen, from Anglo-Norman encoragier, from Old French encoragier. Displaced native Old English hiertan, tyhtan, and trymman.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈkʌɹ.ɪd͡ʒ/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈkʌɹ.ɪd͡ʒ/, /ɪnˈkɝ.ɪd͡ʒ/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• Hyphenation: en‧cour‧age

encourage (third-person singular simple present encourages, present participle encouraging, simple past and past participle encouraged) (transitive)

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

   Synonyms: bield, embolden; see also Thesaurus:incite

   Antonyms: discourage, dishearten

   I encouraged him during his race.

   Delia's coach encouraged her to focus on the positives.

   • 2024 October 30, Paul Clifton, “How can freight be a major part of rail's future?”, in RAIL, number 1021, page 57:

     "It's a lose-lose situation. It can be turned into a win-win. We should be encouraging and supporting expensive bi-mode freight locomotives, especially where capacity is constrained.

2. To spur on, strongly recommend.

   Synonyms: exhort; see also Thesaurus:advise

   We encourage the use of bicycles in the town centre.

   We encourage you to cycle instead of taking the car.

3. To foster, give help or patronage.

   Synonyms: promote; see also Thesaurus:nurture

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

   • 1987 December 20, Tim Scaggs, “No Other Choice But To Go On A Hunger Strike”, in Gay Community News, volume 15, number 23, page 5:

     They remove all sense of self-responsibility from us prisoners. We have virtually no control over any aspect of our lives. This does not encourage our ability to return to community life outside.

• courage

• Audio:

  (file)

encourage

1. inflection of encourager:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. singular imperative