encourage

verb
cour·age
/ɪnˈkʌɹ.ɪd͡ʒ/

To mentally support; to motivate, give courage, hope or spirit.

Example

“I encouraged him during his race.”

Other meanings

To spur on, strongly recommend.
“We encourage the use of bicycles in the town centre.”
To foster, give help or patronage.
“The royal family has always encouraged the arts in word and deed.”

Related words

disencourage
encourageable
overencourage
reencourage
encouragement
encourager
encouraging
encouragingly

Example sentences

“They encourage each other to take risks.”
Tatoeba · Igider · CC0
“That will encourage radish leaf growth instead of root development.”
Tatoeba · Cangarejo · CC0

Word history

From Old French "encoragier".

Where this comes from

This definition is adapted from “encourage” on Wiktionary, by its contributors; example sentences are from Tatoeba, credited to their authors above, published under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page is published under the same licence.