Implicit

How to spell implicit

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce implicit

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does implicit mean?

1. adjectiveSuggested or understood without being directly stated.
2. adjectiveComplete and unquestioning, with no doubt or reservation.

Implicit in a sentence

• The contract contained an implicit promise to keep the equipment in working order.

• The team placed implicit trust in their experienced surgeon.

• There was an implicit assumption that everyone would stay late on deadline days.

• She had implicit faith in the pilot's judgement during the storm.

Where does implicit come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes from the Latin implicitus, a past participle of implicare, which literally meant 'to fold in', 'to entangle', or 'to involve'. The verb was built from in- meaning 'in' and plicare meaning 'to fold', so something implicit was originally something folded inside, wrapped up and not laid out plainly. English took it up in the early 1600s, at first in the sense of something contained or implied within other things rather than openly expressed. The very same plicare root sits inside a crowd of familiar relatives, including imply, complicate, application, and even the humble verb ply, all of which carry that idea of folding or layering. Remembering that hidden plic 'fold' helps fix the single c and the -cit ending, since the word is about meaning tucked away inside rather than spelled out.

How the word is built

• im- (in)
• plic (fold)
• -it (from Latin past participle -itus)