Part 2391

<hw>Con"vict</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <p><b>1.</b> <def>A person proved guilty of a crime alleged against him; one legally convicted or sentenced to punishment for some crime.</def>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>A criminal sentenced to penal servitude.</def>

<syn>Syn. -- Malefactor; culprit; felon; criminal.</syn>

<h1>Convict</h1> <Xpage=319>

<hw>Con*vict"</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>v. t.</tt> <wordforms>[<tt>imp. & p.p.</tt> <er>Convicted</er>; <tt>p.pr. & vb.n.</tt> <er>Convicting</er>.]</wordforms> <p><b>1.</b> <def>To prove or find guilty of an offense or crime charged; to pronounce guilty, as by legal decision, or by one's conscience.</def>

<blockquote>He [Baxter] . . . had been <b>convicted</b> by a jury. <i>Macaulay.</i></blockquote>

<blockquote>They which heard it, being <b>convicted</b> by their own conscience, went out one by one. <i>John viii. 9.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>To prove or show to be false; to confute; to refute.</def> <mark>[Obs.]</mark>

<i>Sir T. Browne</i>.

<p><b>3.</b> <def>To demonstrate by proof or evidence; to prove.</def>

<blockquote>Imagining that these proofs will <b>convict</b> a testament, to have that in it which other men can nowhere by reading find. <i>Hooker.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>4.</b> <def>To defeat; to doom to destruction.</def> <mark>[Obs.]</mark>

<blockquote>A whole armado of <b>convicted</b> sail. <i>Shak.</i></blockquote>

<syn>Syn. -- To confute; defect; convince; confound.</syn>

<h1>Convict1ible</h1> <Xpage=319>

<hw>Con*vict1i*ble</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>a.</tt> <def>Capable of being convicted.</def> <mark>[R.]</mark>

<i>Ash.</i>

<h1>Conviction</h1> <Xpage=319>

<hw>Con*vic"tion</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <ety>[L. <ets>convictio</ets> proof: cf. F. <ets>conviction</ets> conviction (in sense 3 & 4). See <er>Convict</er>, <er>Convince</er>.]</ety> <p><b>1.</b> <def>The act of convicting; the act of proving, finding, or adjudging, guilty of an offense.</def>

<blockquote>The greater certainty of <b>conviction</b> and the greater certainty of punishment. <i>Hallam.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>2.</b> <fld>(Law)</fld> <def>A judgment of condemnation entered by a court having jurisdiction; the act or process of finding guilty, or the state of being found guilty of any crime by a legal tribunal.</def>

<blockquote><b>Conviction</b> may accrue two ways. <i>Blackstone.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>3.</b> <def>The act of convincing of error, or of compelling the admission of a truth; confutation.</def>

<blockquote>For all his tedious talk is but vain boast, Or subtle shifts <b>conviction</b> to evade. <i>Milton.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>4.</b> <def>The state of being convinced or convicted; strong persuasion or belief; especially, the state of being convicted of sin, or by one's conscience.</def>

<blockquote>To call good evil, and evil good, against the <b>conviction</b> of their own consciences. <i>Swift.</i></blockquote>

<blockquote>And did you presently fall under the power of this <b>conviction</b>? <i>Bunyan.</i></blockquote>

<syn>Syn. -- <er>Conviction</er>; <er>persuasion</er>.</syn> <usage> -- <i>Conviction</i> respects soley matters of belief or faith; <i>persuasion</i> respects matters of belief or practice. <i>Conviction</i> respects our most important duties; <i>persuasion</i> is frequently applied to matters of indifference. <i>Crabb.</i> -- <i>Conviction</i> is the result of the [operation of the] understanding; <i>persuasion</i>, of the will. <i>Conviction</i> is a necessity of the mind, <i>persuasion</i> an acquiescence of the inclination.</usage> <i>C. J. Smith.</i> -- <i>Persuasion</i> often induces men to act in opposition to their <i>conviction</i> of duty.