Victor, Convince and Invincible All Come From Conquering
A victor is a winner. The Latin verb vincere, to conquer, produced a large family in English, including convince and evict.
A victor is the winner of a contest or war. Latin *vincere*, to conquer, runs through a surprising range of English: *victory* and *invincible* are obvious, but so are *convince* — to conquer someone's doubt — and *evict*, to conquer someone out of a property. In the NATO phonetic alphabet, Victor simply stands for the letter V.
- A winner. *The victor of the battle.*
- Victory — the win itself. *A narrow victory.*
- Victorious — having won. *The victorious side.*
- Invincible — unable to be defeated. *An invincible team.*
- Victor — the letter V in the NATO alphabet. *Victor Charlie.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | victor | The clear victor. |
| Plural | victors | The victors. |
| Noun | victory | A famous victory. |
| Adjective | victorious | Victorious troops. |
| Related | convince | Convince me. |
- The victor took the whole purse.Formal.
- History is written by the victors.A much-quoted claim.
- Convince comes from the same root as victory.Etymology.
The vincere family
- Victory — the conquest itself
- Invincible — not conquerable
- Convince — to overcome someone's doubt
- Evict — to conquer out, to expel legally
- Vanquish — to defeat, through French from the same root
Latin *victor*, a conqueror, from *vincere*, to conquer. English took it in the 1300s, and the given name Victor comes from the same word.
Are convince and victory related?
Yes. Both come from Latin vincere, to conquer. To convince someone is to overcome their resistance.
Why is V called Victor in the phonetic alphabet?
The NATO alphabet chose words that are clear over poor radio links. Victor was picked for V simply because it is distinctive.