The act or process of proving someone guilty in a court of law; the state of being convicted of a crime.
From 'convict' (to prove guilty) plus '-ment' (resulting state or action). 'Convict' comes from Latin 'convincere': 'con-' (with) and 'vincere' (to conquer, overcome)—to overcome with proof.
The Latin root 'vincere' (to conquer) shows how conviction was originally about being conquered by evidence—you didn't just disagree; you were literally overcome by proof, which explains why 'conviction' can mean both a legal judgment and a deeply held belief.
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