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

• (Received Pronunciation, General Australian) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈfɜː/
• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈfɝ/

  • Audio (US)

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• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)

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.

   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.

   Synonyms: imply, suggest, entail

   • a. 1535, Thomas More, letter to Fryth

     the fyrste parte is not the proofe of the second. but rather contrarywyse the seconde inferreth well yͤ fyrst.

   • c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, ”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     This doth infer the zeal I had to see him.

   • 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 3, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes , book II, London: Val Simmes for Edward Blount , →OCLC:

     These and a thousand like propositions, which concurre in this purpose, do evidently inferre [translating sonnent] some thing beyond patient expecting of death it selfe to be suffered in this life […].

3. (obsolete) To cause, inflict (something) upon or to someone.
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto VIII”, in The Faerie Queene. , London: [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

     faire Serena […] fled fast away, afeard / Of villany to be to her inferd […].

4. (obsolete) To introduce (a subject) in speaking, writing etc.; to bring in, to adduce.
   • c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, ”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     Full well hath Clifford played the orator, / Inferring arguments of mighty force.

Usage notes

There are two ways in which the word "infer" is sometimes used as if it meant "imply". "Implication" is done by a person when making a "statement", whereas "inference" is done to a proposition after it had already been made or assumed. Secondly, the word "infer" can sometimes be used to mean "allude" or "express" in a suggestive manner rather than as a direct "statement". Using the word "infer" in this sense is now generally criticized prescriptively.

Related terms

Translations

Anagrams

• -frine, Finer, finer, frine

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈin.fer/,
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈin.fer/,

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.