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Topic: Conviction

January 30th is the anniversary of three somber events: England's King Charles the first was executed in 1649; Mohandas Gandhi was assassinated in India in 1948; and, in Northern Ireland in 1972, more than two dozen civilians were killed by army troops.

What threads run through this trio? Religion and politics. That powerful combination recalls a thought from 17th century French philosopher Blaise Pascal: "Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully," observed Pascal, "as when they do it from a religious conviction."

That leads us to examine the word conviction. The sense of conviction in religious conviction suggests being in a state free from doubt; it is applied especially to a belief strongly held by an individual. Conviction developed from the Latin verb meaning "to refute; convict; prove" and first appeared in English in the 15th century. Originally, conviction named "the act of finding, proving, or adjudging another person guilty of an offense or crime, especially in a court of law." For a brief (now gone) period, conviction enjoyed the sense "a demonstration or proof;" especially "the proof or exposure of error." It then developed the somewhat less common sense, "convincing a person of error or of compelling the admission of a truth." Then, by the late 17th century, it developed its sense used in religious conviction: "a strong persuasion or belief."

Questions or comments? Write us at wftw@aol.com Production and research support for Word for the Wise comes from Merriam-Webster, publisher of language reference books and Web sites including Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition.

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