imply

English

Etymology

From Middle English implien, emplien, borrowed from Old French emplier, from Latin implicare (“to infold, involve”), from in (“in”) + plicare (“to fold”). Doublet of employ and implicate.

Pronunciation

Verb

imply (third-person singular simple present implies, present participle implying, simple past and past participle implied)

  1. (transitive, of a proposition) to have as a necessary consequence
    The proposition that "all dogs are mammals" implies that my dog is a mammal
  2. (transitive, of a person) to suggest by logical inference
    When I state that your dog is brown, I am not implying that all dogs are brown
  3. (transitive, of a person or proposition) to hint; to insinuate; to suggest tacitly and avoid a direct statement
    What do you mean "we need to be more careful with hygiene"? Are you implying that I don't wash my hands?
  4. (archaic) to enfold, entangle.
    • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, I.iv:
      And in his bosome secretly there lay / An hatefull Snake, the which his taile vptyes / In many folds, and mortall sting implyes.

Usage notes
  • This is a catenative verb that takes the gerund (-ing). See Appendix:English catenative verbs

Synonyms

Translations

See also

Further reading
  • imply in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
  • imply in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
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