infer

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.

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

• Audio (US)

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• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)

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.]
   • 2010, "Keep calm, but don't carry on", The Economist, 7 Oct 2010:

     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) To lead to (something) as a consequence; to imply. (Now often considered incorrect, especially with a person as subject.) [from 16th c.]
   • 1603, John Florio, transl.; Michel de Montaigne, chapter 3, in The Essayes, […], book II, printed at London: By Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], OCLC 946730821:

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

   • Shakespeare

     This doth infer the zeal I had to see him.

   • Sir Thomas More

     The first part is not the proof of the second, but rather contrariwise, the second inferreth well the first.

3. (obsolete) To cause, inflict (something) upon or to someone. [16th-18th c.]
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, VI.8:

     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. [16th–18th c.]
   • Shakespeare

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

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 considered incorrect.

• assume, conclude, deduce, educe, construe

• inferable
• inference
• -ferous (-iferous)

1. (transitive) To introduce (something) as a reasoned conclusion; to conclude by reasoning or deduction, as from premises or evidence. [from 16th c.]

   • 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.

• finer, frine

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈin.fer/, [ˈĩː.fɛr]

īnfer

1. second-person singular present active imperative of īnferō

• 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