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Influence   /ˈɪnfluəns/   Listen
noun
Influence  n.  
1.
A flowing in or upon; influx. (Obs.) "God hath his influence into the very essence of all things."
2.
Hence, in general, the bringing about of an effect, physical or moral, by a gradual process; controlling power quietly exerted; agency, force, or tendency of any kind which affects, modifies, or sways; as, the influence which the sun exerts on animal and vegetable life; the influence of education on the mind; the influence, according to astrologers, of the stars over affairs. "Astrologers call the evil influences of the stars, evil aspects." "Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?" "She said: "Ah, dearest lord! what evil star On you hath frown'd, and poured, his influence bad?""
3.
Power or authority arising from elevated station, excelence of character or intellect, wealth, etc.; reputation; acknowledged ascendency; as, he is a man of influence in the community. "Such influence hath your excellency."
4.
(Elec.) Induction.
Synonyms: Control; persuasion; ascendency; sway; power; authority; supremacy; mastery; management; restraint; character; reputation; prestige.


verb
Influence  v. t.  (past & past part. influenced; pres. part. influencing)  To control or move by power, physical or moral; to affect by gentle action; to exert an influence upon; to modify, bias, or sway; to affect; to move; to persuade; to induce. "These experiments succeed after the same manner in vacuo as in the open air, and therefore are not influenced by the weight or pressure of the atmosphere." "This standing revelation... is sufficient to influence their faith and practice, if they attend." "The principle which influenced their obedience has lost its efficacy."





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"Influence" Quotes from Famous Books



... skill should give a title to superior remuneration? On the one side it is argued that all who do the best they can deserve equally well; ... that superior abilities have already advantages more than enough in the admiration they excite, the personal influence they command, and the internal satisfaction attending them; and that society is bound in justice rather to make compensation to the less favoured for this unmerited inequality of advantages, than to aggravate it. On the contrary side, that society, receiving more from the more efficient ...
— Old-Fashioned Ethics and Common-Sense Metaphysics - With Some of Their Applications • William Thomas Thornton
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... so much fatigue and unsatisfactory turmoil, that I feel I shall scarcely be articulate in what I say. Still, it must be tried, for I can't have you think that I have come to London to forget you, much less to be callous to the influence of this dear affectionate letter of yours. May God bless you! How sorry I am that you should have vexation on the top of more serious hurts to depress you. Indeed, if it were not for the other side of the tapestry, ...
— The Letters of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Volume II • Elizabeth Barrett Browning
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... they were actually two different Nations. The Effects of such a Division are pernicious to the last degree, not only with regard to those Advantages which they give the Common Enemy, but to those private Evils which they produce in the Heart of almost every particular Person. This Influence is very fatal both to Mens Morals and their Understandings; it sinks the Virtue of a Nation, and not only so, ...
— The Spectator, Volumes 1, 2 and 3 - With Translations and Index for the Series • Joseph Addison and Richard Steele
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... through the influence of Lord Shelburne, a considerable pension had been granted to Colonel Barr'e, and a peerage and pension ...
— Letters of Horace Walpole, V4 • Horace Walpole
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... relaxed under the influence of the powerful narcotic, the leader of the convicts removed his pipe from his mouth ...
— The Boy Chums in the Forest - or Hunting for Plume Birds in the Florida Everglades • Wilmer M. Ely
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