encourage

See also: encouragé

English

Alternative forms

• incourage (archaic)

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• Hyphenation: en‧cour‧age

Verb

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.

Derived terms

• disencourage
• encourageable
• encouragement
• encourager
• encouraging
• encouragingly
• overencourage
• reencourage

 

Related terms

• courage

Translations

mentally support or motivate

• Arabic: شَجَّعَ (šajjaʕa)
• Armenian: քաջալերել (hy) (kʻaǰalerel), խրախուսել (hy) (xraxusel)
• Aromanian: mbãrbãtedz, inimusescu
• Azerbaijani: ruhlandırmaq (az)
• Belarusian: заахво́чваць impf (zaaxvóčvacʹ), падбадзёрваць impf (padbadzjórvacʹ)
• Bulgarian: насърча́вам (bg) impf (nasǎrčávam), окуража́вам (bg) impf (okuražávam), обнадежда́вам (bg) impf (obnadeždávam) (hope)
• Catalan: encoratjar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 鼓勵／鼓励 (gu² lai⁶)

  Mandarin: 鼓勵／鼓励 (zh) (gǔlì), 激勵／激励 (zh) (jīlì)

• Czech: povzbudit (cs)
• Danish: opmuntre (da)
• Dutch: bemoedigen (nl), aanmoedigen (nl)
• Esperanto: kuraĝigi
• Estonian: õhutama
• Finnish: rohkaista (fi), kannustaa (fi)
• French: encourager (fr)
• Georgian: წახალისება (c̣axaliseba), გამხნევება (gamxneveba), შეგულიანება (šegulianeba)
• German: ermutigen (de), ermuntern (de)
• Greek: ενθαρρύνω (el) (entharrýno)

  Ancient Greek: παρακελεύομαι (parakeleúomai)

  Ancient: παραμυθέομαι (paramuthéomai), ὀτρῡ́νω (otrū́nō)

• Hebrew: עודד (he) m (oded), עודד (he) (odéd), ראה בחיוב (ra'á b'khiyúv)
• Hungarian: bátorít (hu), felbátorít (hu), biztat (hu), buzdít (hu)
• Irish: spreag
• Italian: incoraggiare (it)
• Japanese: 勇気付ける (ゆうきづける, yūkizukeru), 奨励する (shōrei suru)
• Khmer: ត្រឹក (km) (trək), ចលនា (km) (caʼlaʼnaa)
• Korean: 격려하다 (ko) (gyeongnyeohada)
• Latin: hortor (la), exhortor, adhortor, corrōborō, animo, incito, excito, cogo (la)
• Lithuanian: padrąsinti
• Maori: whakatītina, whakamanawa
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Nepali: तताउनु (tatāunu)
• Norwegian: oppmuntre (no)
• Old English: hiertan
• Persian: تشویق کردن (fa) (tašviq kardan)
• Polish: wspierać (pl), dodawać odwagi, popierać (pl), dopingować (pl)
• Portuguese: encorajar (pt), incentivar (pt)
• Romanian: încuraja (ro), îmbărbăta (ro), însufleți (ro)
• Russian: ободря́ть (ru) impf (obodrjátʹ), обо́дрить (ru) pf (obódritʹ), поощря́ть (ru) impf (pooščrjátʹ), поощри́ть (ru) pf (pooščrítʹ), воодушевля́ть (ru) impf (vooduševljátʹ), воодушеви́ть (ru) pf (vooduševítʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian: hrabriti (sh) impf, ohrabrivati (sh) impf, ohrabriti (sh) pf
• Slovene: spodbuditi
• Spanish: animar (es), alentar (es), estimular (es), promover (es), motivar (es), arengar (es), suscitar (es)
• Swedish: sporra (sv), uppmuntra (sv)
• Telugu: ప్రోత్సాహము (te) (prōtsāhamu)
• Thai: ให้กำลังใจ
• Turkish: teşvik etmek (tr), cesaretlendirmek (tr), yüreklendirmek (tr)
• Tày: bom
• Ukrainian: заохо́чувати impf (zaoxóčuvaty), підбадьо́рювати impf (pidbadʹórjuvaty), підтри́мувати impf (pidtrýmuvaty)
• Vietnamese: cổ vũ (vi)

spur on, recommend

• Armenian: խրախուսել (hy) (xraxusel)
• Bulgarian: поощря́вам (bg) impf (pooštrjávam), насърча́вам (bg) impf (nasǎrčávam)
• Catalan: recomanar (ca), alenar (ca), encoratjar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 提倡 (zh) (tíchàng)

• Danish: anbefale (da)
• Dutch: aanmoedigen (nl)
• Esperanto: kuraĝigi, instigi
• Estonian: julgustama (et)
• Finnish: suositella (fi), rohkaista (fi)
• French: encourager (fr)
• German: empfehlen (de)
• Greek: παρακινώ (el) (parakinó), συνιστώ (el) (synistó), παροτρύνω (el) (parotrýno)
• Hebrew: המליץ m (himlits), עוֹדֵד (he) ('odéd)
• Italian: raccomandare (it), esortare (it)
• Latin: hortor (la)
• Maori: whakakipakipa, whakatenatena, akiaki, whakahauhau, whakatītina
• Norwegian: anbefale (no)
• Old English: tyhtan, trymman
• Polish: namawiać (pl) impf, namówić (pl) pf, zachęcać (pl) impf, zachęcić (pl) pf
• Portuguese: recomendar (pt)
• Russian: поощря́ть (ru) impf (pooščrjátʹ), поощри́ть (ru) pf (pooščrítʹ)
• Spanish: recomendar (es), alentar (es)
• Turkish: önermek (tr), teşvik etmek (tr)
• Ukrainian: заохо́чувати (zaoxóčuvaty)

foster, give help or patronage

• Catalan: patrocinar (ca), afavorir (ca)
• Danish: støtte
• Dutch: bevorderen (nl), patroneren (nl), steunen (nl)
• Esperanto: vigligi, subteni
• Finnish: tukea (fi), suosia (fi), suojella (fi), avustaa (fi), rohkaista (fi)
• Greek: ενθαρρύνω (el) (entharrýno)
• Hungarian: támogat (hu)
• Italian: favorire (it)
• Polish: popierać (pl)
• Spanish: patrocinar (es)
• Turkish: desteklemek (tr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Malay: ^{(please verify)} galak (ms)
• Telugu: ^{(please verify)} ప్రోత్సహించు (te) (prōtsahiñcu)

French

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

encourage

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