The origins of the words dissuade and persuade reveal interesting insights. The prefix of “dissuade” means “against” while “persuade” means “thoroughly”. But what about “suade”? Interestingly, an obsolete word, “suasion”, exists which carries the same meaning as “persuasion”. These words trace back to the Latin verb suadere, which meant “urge” or “recommend”. From the Proto-Italic root swadeo, derived from the Proto-Indo-European root swehd meaning “sweet”, the concept of sweet-talking in the act of suasion or advocating for sweet things is evident. This root is also the etymon of words like “sweet”, “hedonist”, “suave”, and “assuage”.
