1. (n.) Power or authority to change an action or situation; excellence of character or intellect, wealth, etc.; reputation; acknowledged ascendency; as, he is a man of influence in the community.

2. (n.) A flowing in or upon; influx.

3. (n.) Hence, in general, the bringing about of an effect, physical or moral, by a gradual process; controlling power quietly exerted; agency, force, or tendency of any kind which the sun exerts on animal and vegetable life; the influence of education on the mind; the influence, according to astrologers, of the stars over affairs.

4. (n.) Induction.

5. (v. t.) To control or move by power, physical or moral; to affect by gentle action; to exert an influence upon; to modify, bias, or sway; to move; to persuade; to induce.