Con*vic"tion (k&obreve;n*v&ibreve;k"shŭn), n. [L. convictio proof: cf. F. conviction conviction (in sense 3 & 4). See Convict, Convince.]
1. The act of
convicting; the act of proving, finding, or adjudging, guilty of an offense.
The greater certainty of conviction and the greater certainty of punishment.
Hallam.
2. (Law) A judgment of
condemnation entered by
a court having jurisdiction; the act or process of finding guilty, or the state
of being found guilty of any crime
by a legal tribunal.
Conviction may accrue two ways.
Blackstone.
3. The act of convincing of error, or of compelling the admission of a truth; confutation.
For all his tedious talk is but vain boast,
Or subtle shifts conviction to evade.
Milton.
4. The state of being convinced or convicted; strong persuasion or belief; especially, the state of being convicted of sin, or by one's conscience.
To call good
evil, and evil good, against the conviction of their own consciences.
Swift.
And did you presently fall under the power of this
conviction?
Bunyan.
Syn. --
Conviction; persuasion. -- Conviction respects soley matters of belief or
faith; persuasion
respects matters of belief or practice. Conviction respects our
most important duties;
persuasion is frequently applied to matters
of indifference.
Crabb. -- Conviction is the result
of the [operation of the] understanding; persuasion, of the will. Conviction is a necessity of the mind,
persuasion an acquiescence of the inclination. C. J. Smith.
-- Persuasion often induces men to act in opposition to their conviction of duty.
Hear it pronounced