Encouraged

How to spell encouraged

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce encouraged

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does encouraged mean?

1. verbPast tense of encourage: gave someone support, confidence, or a reason to do something.
2. adjectiveFeeling more hopeful or confident as a result of support or good news.

Encouraged in a sentence

• verb

  The manager encouraged her team to apply for the new positions.

• adjective

  She felt encouraged by the positive feedback on her report.

• verb

  Lower interest rates encouraged many families to buy their first home.

• adjective

  The patient was encouraged by the steady improvement in his recovery.

Where does encouraged come from?

Language of origin: French

This word descends from the Old French verb encoragier, meaning 'to make strong of heart' or 'to embolden'. It was built from the prefix en-, 'to put into', and corage, 'heart, spirit, temper', which itself goes back to the Latin cor, literally 'heart'. The idea was thoroughly physical at first: to encourage someone was to fill them with heart, that is, with the courage and resolve the heart was thought to hold. English adopted the verb in the fifteenth century, and the past-tense form 'encouraged' followed naturally with the regular -ed ending. The same Latin cor sits inside relatives such as 'courage', 'cordial', and even 'record', and that hidden 'heart' is a useful reminder that the tricky middle is spelled c-o-u-r, mirroring 'courage'.

How the word is built

• en- (to put into)
• courage (from Old French corage, from Latin cor: heart)
• -ed (past-tense/participle suffix)