different between influence vs moonstruck

English

Etymology

From Middle English influence, from Old French influence (“emanation from the stars affecting one's fate”), from Medieval Latin ?nfluentia, from Latin ?nflu?ns (“flowing in”), present active participle of ?nflu? (“flow into”), from in- (“in-”) + flu? (“flow”). Doublet of influenza.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??n.flu.?ns/
• Hyphenation: in?flu?ence

Noun

influence (countable and uncountable, plural influences)

1. The power to affect, control or manipulate something or someone; the ability to change the development of fluctuating things such as conduct, thoughts or decisions.

2. An action exerted by a person or thing with such power on another to cause change.

3. A person or thing exerting such power or action.

   • The animals were thoroughly frightened. It seemed to them as though Snowball were some kind of invisible influence, pervading the air about them and menacing them with all kinds of dangers.

4. (astrology) An element believed to determine someone's character or individual tendencies, caused by the position of the stars and planets at the time of one's birth.
5. (obsolete) The action of flowing in; influx.
   • 1594, Richard Hooker, Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie

     God hath his influence into the very essence of all things.

6. (electricity) Electrostatic induction.

Usage notes

• Adjectives often applied to "influence": cultural, political, social, economic, military, personal, moral, intellectual, mental, good, bad, positive, negative, beneficial, harmful, huge, big, heavy, significant, important, potential, actual, primary.

Hyponyms

• social influence

Derived terms

• influencer

Related terms

Translations

Verb

influence (third-person singular simple present influences, present participle influencing, simple past and past participle influenced)

1. (transitive) To have an effect on by using gentle or subtle action; to exert an influence upon; to modify, bias, or sway; to persuade or induce.

   The politician wants to influence the public.

   I must admit that this book influenced my outlook on life.

2. (intransitive) To exert, make use of one's influence.
3. (transitive, obsolete) To cause to flow in or into; infuse; instill.

Derived terms

• influenceable
• influencer
• influencive

Related terms

• influent
• influential
• influenza, flu

Translations

French

Etymology

From Old French influence, borrowed from Medieval Latin ?nfluentia, from Latin ?nflu?ns (“flowing in”), present active participle of ?nflu? (“flow into”), from in- (“in-”) + flu? (“flow”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??.fly.??s/

Noun

influence f (plural influences)

1. influence

Derived terms

• zone d'influence

Related terms

Verb

influence

1. first-person singular present indicative of influencer
2. third-person singular present indicative of influencer
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of influencer
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of influencer
5. second-person singular imperative of influencer

Further reading

• “influence” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Old French

Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin ?nfluentia, from Latin ?nflu?ns (“flowing in”), present active participle of ?nflu? (“flow into”).

Noun

influence f (oblique plural influences, nominative singular influence, nominative plural influences)

1. inundation; flooding; influx of water
2. influence, especially viewed as a mystical force affecting one's fate

Descendants

• ? English: influence
• French: influence

References

• Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle (1881) (influence, supplement)

English

Etymology

moon +? struck. Compare German Low German maansüchtig, German mondsüchtig.

Adjective

moonstruck (comparative more moonstruck, superlative most moonstruck)

1. (obsolete) Crazy or insane when affected by the phases of the Moon.
2. (by extension) Showing irrational behaviour, especially of a romantic or sentimental nature.
   • 1902, William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience, Lectures 4 & 5:

     [W]e can also overlook the verbiage of a good deal of the mind-cure literature, some of which is so moonstruck with optimism and so vaguely expressed that an academically trained intellect finds it almost impossible to read it at all.

   • 1925, Sinclair Lewis, Arrowsmith, Chapter 21, IV:

     The full moon was spacious now behind the maples. The seedy Pickerbaugh domain was enchanted […] and over all the world was the proper witchery of moonstruck love.

3. (obsolete) Made sick, or (like fishes) unsuitable for food, by the supposed influence of the Moon.

Synonyms

• moonstricken

Translations