influence

From Middle English, from Old French influence (“emanation from the stars affecting one's fate”), from Medieval Latin īnfluentia, from Latin īnfluēns (“flowing in”), present active participle of īnfluō (“flow into”), from in- (“in-”) + fluō (“flow”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈɪn.fl(j)u.əns/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: in‧flu‧ence

influence (countable and uncountable, plural influences)

1. The power to affect, control or manipulate something or someone; the ability to change the development of fluctuating things such as conduct, thoughts or decisions.
   • 2013 July 26, Leo Hickman, “How algorithms rule the world”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 7, page 26:

     The use of algorithms in policing is one example of their increasing influence on our lives. And, as their ubiquity spreads, so too does the debate around whether we should allow ourselves to become so reliant on them – and who, if anyone, is policing their use.

   I have absolutely no influence over him.

2. An action exerted by a person or thing with such power on another to cause change.

   I'm not able to exercise influence over him.

3. A person or thing exerting such power or action.
   • 1945 August 17, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter 7, in Animal Farm: A Fairy Story, London: Secker & Warburg, OCLC 3655473:

     The animals were thoroughly frightened. It seemed to them as though Snowball were some kind of invisible influence, pervading the air about them and menacing them with all kinds of dangers.

   • 2013 May-June, Katrina G. Claw, “Rapid Evolution in Eggs and Sperm”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3:

     Many genes with reproductive roles also have antibacterial and immune functions, which indicate that the threat of microbial attack on the sperm or egg may be a major influence on rapid evolution during reproduction.

   He has been a great influence on the voters during the elections.

4. (astrology) An element believed to determine someone's character or individual tendencies, caused by the position of the stars and planets at the time of one's birth.
5. (obsolete) The action of flowing in; influx.
   • Hooker

     God hath his influence into the very essence of all things.

6. (electricity) Electrostatic induction.

• Adjectives often applied to "influence": cultural, political, social, economic, military, personal, moral, intellectual, mental, good, bad, positive, negative, beneficial, harmful, huge, big, heavy, significant, important, potential, actual, primary.

• social influence

• influencer

influence (third-person singular simple present influences, present participle influencing, simple past and past participle influenced)

1. (transitive) To have an effect on by using gentle or subtle action; to exert an influence upon; to modify, bias, or sway; to persuade or induce.

   The politician wants to influence the public.

   I must admit that this book influenced my outlook on life.

2. (intransitive) To exert, make use of one's influence.
3. (transitive, obsolete) To cause to flow in or into; infuse; instill.

• influenceable
• influencer
• influencive

• influent
• influential
• influenza, flu

From Old French, borrowed from Medieval Latin īnfluentia, from Latin īnfluēns (“flowing in”), present active participle of īnfluō (“flow into”), from in- (“in-”) + fluō (“flow”).

• IPA^(key): /ɛ̃.fly.ɑ̃s/

• audio

  (file)

influence f (plural influences)

1. influence

• influençable
• influencer
• influent
• influentiel
• influenza

influence

1. first-person singular present indicative of influencer
2. third-person singular present indicative of influencer
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of influencer
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of influencer
5. second-person singular imperative of influencer

• “influence” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Borrowed from Medieval Latin īnfluentia, from Latin īnfluēns (“flowing in”), present active participle of īnfluō (“flow into”).

influence f (oblique plural influences, nominative singular influence, nominative plural influences)

1. inundation; flooding; influx of water
2. influence, especially viewed as a mystical force affecting one's fate
   • Par l'influance des estoiles

     By the influence of the stars

• English: influence (borrowed)
• French: influence

• Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle (1881) (influence, supplement)