stimulate vs encourage

stimulate and encourage both are verbs.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
stimulate	No	No	Yes	No
encourage	No	No	Yes	No

As verbs, encourage is a hyponym of stimulate; that is, encourage is a word with a more specific, narrower meaning than stimulate:

Other hyponyms of stimulate include decide, persuade, bring, solicit, let, lead, inspire, instigate, prompt, suborn, compel, obligate, oblige.

stimulate (verb)	encourage (verb)
cause to be alert and energetic	spur on
act as a stimulant	inspire with confidence; give hope or courage to
provide the needed stimulus for	contribute to the progress or growth of
cause to do; cause to act in a specified manner
cause to occur rapidly
stir the feelings, emotions, or peace of
stir feelings in