Implying

How to spell implying

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce implying

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does implying mean?

1. verbSuggesting or hinting at something without stating it directly.

Implying in a sentence

• Her cautious tone seemed to be implying that the deal might fall through.

• The report avoided naming anyone while still implying that mistakes had been made.

Where does implying come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin implicare, meaning literally 'to fold in' or 'to entangle', formed from the prefix in- ('in') and plicare ('to fold'). English took it through Old French emplier in the fourteenth century, and at first it carried the literal sense of folding or wrapping something up inside another thing. Over time the idea of folding a meaning inside a statement, rather than saying it outright, took hold, giving us the modern sense of hinting at something without stating it directly. The same plicare root shows up in a whole family of relatives such as 'complicate', 'replicate', 'employ', and the near twin 'imply' versus 'infer', which adults often confuse. The 'ply' spelling preserves that folding root, while the -ing ending simply turns the verb into its present participle.

How the word is built

• im- (in, into)
• ply (from Latin plicare: to fold)
• -ing (present participle)