Implies

How to spell implies

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce implies

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does implies mean?

1. verbStrongly suggests something as a logical consequence or hint without stating it directly.

Implies in a sentence

• Her polite refusal implies that she has other plans for the weekend.

• The contract implies a duty of confidentiality even though no clause spells it out.

Where does implies come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This is the third-person singular form of the verb 'imply', which came into English in the late 1300s from the Old French emplier, itself from the Latin implicare. That Latin verb was built from in- meaning 'into' and plicare meaning 'to fold', so its literal sense was 'to fold in' or 'to entangle'. The idea of folding something in gradually shifted to the figurative notion of wrapping a meaning inside words without stating it outright, which is how we arrive at the modern sense of hinting or suggesting. The same plicare root sits inside a whole family of relatives such as 'complicate', 'replicate', 'explicit' and even 'employ', all of which share the folding metaphor. Notice that 'imply' keeps the soft -y, but when an -s is added the y turns to ie, giving 'implies'; that y-to-ie switch is the spelling point worth remembering.

How the word is built

• im- (in, into)
• ply (from Latin plicare: to fold)
• -es (third-person singular verb ending)