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the act of proving, finding, or adjudging, guilty of an offense. The greater certainty of conviction and the greater certainty of punishment. Hallam.

The act of convicting one's self, or the state of being self- convicted.

To concur upon conviction; as, to acquiesce in an opinion; to assent to; usually, to concur, not heartily but so far as to forbear opposition.

Affected by shame; abashed or confused by guilt, or a conviction or consciousness of some wrong action or impropriety. "I am ashamed to beg." Wyclif. All that forsake thee shall be ashamed. Jer. xvii. 13. I began to be ashamed of sitting idle. Johnson. Enough to make us ashamed of our species. Macaulay. An ashamed pers…

Attainder; attainture; conviction.

; partial or full assurance without positive knowledge or absolute certainty; persuasion; conviction; confidence; as, belief of a witness; the belief of our senses. Belief admits of all degrees, from the slightest suspicion to the fullest assurance. Reid.

ment less than death upon persons supposed to be guilty of treason or felony, without any conviction in the ordinary course of judicial proceedings. Bouvier. Wharton. -- Bill of parcels, an account given by the seller to the buyer of the several articles purchased, with the price of each. -- Bill of particulars (Law)…

If convicted of a clergyable felony, he is entitled equally to his clergy after as before conviction. Blackstone. Benefit of clergy (Eng., Law), the exemption of the persons of clergymen from criminal process before a secular judge -- a privilege which was extended to all who could read, such persons being, in the eye…

The quality of being cogent; power of compelling conviction; conclusiveness; force. An antecedent argument of extreme cogency. J. H. Newman.

Having the power to compel conviction or move the will; constraining; conclusive; forcible; powerful; not easily reasisted. No better nor more cogent reason. Dr. H. More. Proofs of the most cogent description. Tyndall. The tongue whose strains were cogent as commands, Revered at home, and felt in foreign lands. Cowper.…

The estimate or determination of conscience; conviction or right or duty. Conscience supposes the existence of some such [i.e., moral] faculty, and properly signifies our consciousness of having acted agreeably or contrary to its directions. Adam Smith.

A spiritual and moral change attending a change of belief with conviction; a change of heart; a change from the service of the world to the service of God; a change of the ruling disposition of the soul, involving a transformation of the outward life. He oft Frequented their assemblies, . . . and to them preached Conve…

Act of convincing, or state of being convinced; conviction. [R.] The fear of a convincement. Milton.

o criminal process. Hallam. Criminal action (Law), an action or suit instituted to secure conviction and punishment for a crime. -- Criminal conversation (Law), unlawful intercourse with a married woman; adultery; -- usually abbreviated, crim. con. -- Criminal law, the law which relates to crimes.

natory plea (O. Eng. Law), the plea of sanctuary or of benefit of clergy, before trial or conviction; -- now abolished.

; purpose; conclusion formed; fixed resolution. So bloodthirsty a determination to obtain convictions. Hallam.

That which disqualifies; that which incapacitates or makes unfit; as, conviction of crime is a disqualification of a person for office; sickness is a disqualification for labor. I must still retain the consciousness of those disqualifications which you have been pleased to overlook. Sir J. Shore.

power, right, or privilege, by positive restriction; to disable; to debar legally; as, a conviction of perjury disqualifies a man to be a witness.

rade, so that on the latter there can be an acquittal, while on the former there can be a conviction. -- Di*vis"i*ble*ness, n. -- Di*vis"i*bly, adv.

ffectual calling (Theol.), a doctrine concerning the work of the Holy Spirit in producing conviction of sin and acceptance of salvation by Christ, -- one of the five points of Calvinism. See Calvinism.