The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Encouragement \En*cour"age*ment\, n. [Cf. F. encouragement.]
   1. The act of encouraging; incitement to action or to
      practice; as, the encouragement of youth in generosity.
      [1913 Webster]

            All generous encouragement of arts.   --Otway.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. That which serves to incite, support, promote, or advance,
      as favor, countenance, reward, etc.; incentive; increase
      of confidence; as, the fine arts find little encouragement
      among a rude people.
      [1913 Webster]

            To think of his paternal care,
            Is a most sweet encouragement to prayer. --Byron.
      [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

encouragement
    n 1: the expression of approval and support [ant:
         discouragement]
    2: the act of giving hope or support to someone [syn: boost,
       encouragement]
    3: the feeling of being encouraged

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

84 Moby Thesaurus words for "encouragement":
   abetment, advocacy, aegis, aid, aid and comfort, animating,
   animation, assurance, auspices, backing, bait, boost, bribe, care,
   carrot, championship, charity, cheering, comfort, condolence,
   consolation, countenance, easement, emboldening, exhortation,
   exhorting, favor, fillip, fosterage, goading, goodwill, guidance,
   heartening, help, incentive, incitement, inciting, inducement,
   insistence, inspiration, inspiring, inspiriting, inspiritment,
   instance, interest, invitation, lure, needling, patronage, payment,
   pep talk, percentage, persuasive, pressing, pressure, pricking,
   prodding, profit, promoting, promotion, provocation, reassurance,
   reassuring, relief, reward, seconding, shred of comfort, solace,
   solacement, sponsorship, spur, spurring, stimulating, stimulation,
   stimulative, stimulus, support, supporting, sweetener, sweetening,
   sympathy, tutelage, urging, whet