El"o*quence (?), n. [F. 'eloquence, L. eloquentia, fr. eloquens. See Eloquent.]
1.
Fluent, forcible, elegant, and persuasive speech in public; the power of expressing strong emotions in striking and appropriate language either spoken or written, thereby producing conviction or persuasion.
Eloquence is speaking out . . . out of the abundance of the heart.
Hare.
2.
Fig.: Whatever produces the effect of moving and persuasive speech.
Silence that spoke and eloquence of eyes.
Pope.
The hearts of men are their books; events are their tutors; great actions are their eloquence.
Macaulay.
3.
That which is eloquently uttered or written.
O, let my books be then the eloquence
And dumb presagers of my speaking breast.
Shak.
Syn. -- Oratory; rhetoric.
© Webster 1913.