Implication

How to spell implication

11 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce implication

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does implication mean?

1. nounA possible effect or consequence that follows from a decision or action.
2. nounSomething suggested or hinted at without being stated directly.
3. nounThe fact of being involved in a crime or wrongdoing.

Implication in a sentence

• The finance team studied every implication of the proposed merger.

• She resented the implication that her work had been careless.

• The witness statement led to his implication in the fraud case.

• Raising the rent has a serious implication for low-income tenants.

• The manager's tone carried an implication of disapproval.

• The lawyer denied any implication of her client in the scheme.

Where does implication come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb implicare, which literally meant 'to fold in' or 'to entangle', built from the prefix in- 'in' and the verb plicare 'to fold'. The related noun implicatio described an interweaving or entanglement, and from that physical image of things folded together grew the figurative sense of being caught up or involved in something. English took the word in during the early 1400s, first in the sense of being entangled in an affair, and only later developed the modern meaning of something suggested without being stated outright. The same plicare root sits inside a whole family of English words, including complicate, reply, and pliable, all of which carry that idea of folding. Remembering that hidden 'fold' explains the spelling: the single 'p' followed by 'lic' comes straight from plic, not from the unrelated 'imply' that many people picture when they write it.

How the word is built

• im- (in, into)
• plic (to fold, from Latin plicare)
• -ation (noun of action or result)