Emily Dickinson Lexicon

CON-VIC'TION, n.

1. The act of proving, finding or determining to be guilty of an offense charged against a person before a legal tribunal; as by confession, by the verdict of a jury, or by the sentence of other tribunal, as in the summary convictions before commissioners of the revenue.
2. The act of convincing, or compelling one to admit the truth of a charge; the act of convincing of sin or sinfulness; the state of being convinced or convicted by conscience; the state of being sensible of guilt; as, the convictions of a sinner may be temporary, or lasting and efficacious. By conviction, a sinner is brought to repentance. Men often sin against the conviction of their own consciences.
3. The act of convincing of error; confutation; the act of compelling one to acknowledge his error, or the truth of what is alledged; as, the conviction of a heretic may induce him to abandon his errors.