infer

English

Etymology

From Latin inferō, from Latin in- (“in, at, on; into”) + Latin ferō (“bear, carry; suffer”) (cognate to Old English beran, whence English bear), from Proto-Italic *ferō, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰéreti (“to bear, carry”), from the root *bʰer-. Literally “carry forward”, equivalent to “bear in”, as in concluding from a premise. Doublet of inbear.

Pronunciation

Verb

infer (third-person singular simple present infers, present participle inferring, simple past and past participle inferred)

  1. (transitive) To introduce (something) as a reasoned conclusion; to conclude by reasoning or deduction, as from premises or evidence. [from 16th c.]
    Synonyms: conclude, deduce, educe, construe
    • 2010 October 7, “Keep calm, but don't carry on”, in The Economist:
      It is dangerous to infer too much from martial bluster in British politics: at the first hint of trouble, channelling Churchill is a default tactic for beleaguered leaders of all sorts.
  2. (transitive, often proscribed) To lead to (something) as a consequence; to imply. [from 16th c.]
    Synonyms: imply, suggest, entail
  3. (obsolete) To cause, inflict (something) upon or to someone. [16th–18th c.]
  4. (obsolete) To introduce (a subject) in speaking, writing etc.; to bring in, to adduce. [16th–18th c.]

Usage notes

The words "infer" and "imply" are duals: a speaker or writer may imply a proposition by their statement, whereas a listener may infer a proposition from the statement. For example: Alice asks, "Are you going to go for a walk today?" Bob replies, "It looks like rain," implying that he won't go out. Alice infers from Bob's response that he won't go out. Here Bob has made an implication; Alice has made an inference.

The word "infer" is sometimes used to mean "imply" or "suggest". For example, after Bob says "It looks like rain," Alice might ask for clarification by saying, "What are you inferring?" (rather than the more proper "What are you implying?"). This usage is generally viewed as incorrect. [1] [2]

Derived terms

Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Anagrams

Latin

Pronunciation

Verb

īnfer

  1. second-person singular present active imperative of īnferō

References

  • “infer”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • “infer”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.