[1] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

persuasion \persua"sion\, n. l. persuasio; cf. f. persuasion.
   1. the act of persuading; the act of influencing the mind by
      arguments or reasons offered, or by anything that moves
      the mind or passions, or inclines the will to a
      determination.
      1913 webster

            for thou hast all the arts of fine persuasion.
                                                  --otway.
      1913 webster

   2. the state of being persuaded or convinced; settled opinion
      or conviction, which has been induced.
      1913 webster

            if the general persuasion of all men does so account
            it.                                   --hooker.
      1913 webster

            my firm persuasion is, at least sometimes,
            that heaven will weigh man's virtues and his crimes
            with nice attention.                  --cowper.
      1913 webster

   3. a creed or belief; a sect or party adhering to a certain
      creed or system of opinions; as, of the same persuasion;
      all persuasions are agreed.
      1913 webster

            of whatever state or persuasion, religious or
            political.                            --jefferson.
      1913 webster

   4. the power or quality of persuading; persuasiveness.
      1913 webster

            is 't possible that my deserts to you
            can lack persuasion?                  --shak.
      1913 webster

   5. that which persuades; a persuasive. r.
      1913 webster

   syn: see conviction.
        1913 webster
see also:
conviction 

[2] : WordNet (r) 2.0

persuasion
     n 1: the act of persuading or attempting to persuade;
          communication intended to induce belief or action syn:
          suasion
     2: a personal belief or judgment that is not founded on proof
        or certainty; "my opinion differs from yours"; "what are
        your thoughts on haiti?" syn: opinion, sentiment, view,
         thought
     3: inducement to act by argument or reasoning or entreaty ant:
         dissuasion
see also:
suasion opinion sentiment view thought dissuasion 

[3] : Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

176 moby thesaurus words for "persuasion":
   adherents, affiliation, allurement, ascendancy, authority, belief,
   bias, blandishment, blood, body, branch, brand, breed, cajolement,
   cajolery, cast, character, charisma, charm, church, clan, class,
   clout, coaxing, color, communion, community, confession,
   connection, conning, consequence, control, conversion, conviction,
   credit, creed, cult, denomination, description, designation,
   disciples, division, dominance, domination, effect, eminence,
   enchantment, engagement, enlistment, esteem, evangelization,
   exhortation, exhorting, eye, faction, faith, favor, feather,
   feeling, fellowship, fixed opinion, followers, force, form, genre,
   genus, good feeling, grain, group, hold, hortation, ilk,
   implicit belief, importance, incidental power, inducement,
   inducing, influence, influencing, influentiality, insinuation, ism,
   jawboning, kidney, kin, kind, label, leadership, leverage, line,
   lobbying, lot, magnetism, make, manner, mark, mastery,
   mature judgment, mind, mold, moment, nature, number, offshoot,
   opinion, order, organization, partiality, party, personality,
   persuading, phylum, potency, power, preaching, preachment,
   predilection, predominance, prejudice, preponderance,
   prepossession, pressure, prestige, proselytism, proselytization,
   purchase, race, reign, religion, religious order, repute, rule,
   sales talk, salesmanship, say, schism, school, school of thought,
   sect, sectarism, segment, selling, sentiment, settled judgment,
   shape, snow job, society, soft soap, solicitation, sort, species,
   stamp, staunch belief, steadfast faith, strain, stripe, style,
   suasion, subtle influence, suggestion, supremacy, sway, sweet talk,
   the like of, the likes of, tribe, type, unshaken confidence,
   upper hand, variety, version, view, weight, wheedling, whip hand,
   working on

[4] : Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856)

persuasion. the act of influencing by expostulation or request. while the 
persuasion is confined within those limits which leave the mind free, it may 
be used to induce another to make his will, or even to make it in his own 
favor; but if such persuasion should so far operate on the mind of the 
testator, that he would be deprived of a perfectly free will, it would 
vitiate the instrument. 3 serg.  rawle, 269; 5 serg.  rawle, 207; 13 serg. 
 rawle, 323. 

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