Infer
verbTo reach a conclusion or work something out from evidence and reasoning rather than from explicit statement.
How to spell infer
5 letters · 2 syllables
How to pronounce infer
Say the part in capitals loudest.
What does infer mean?
- verbTo reach a conclusion or work something out from evidence and reasoning rather than from explicit statement.
Infer in a sentence
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From the muddy boots by the door, she could infer that he had walked through the field.
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Readers can infer the company's troubles from the sharp drop in its share price.
Where does infer come from?
Language of origin: Latin
Infer comes from the Latin verb inferre, which literally meant 'to carry in' or 'to bring in', formed from the prefix in- meaning 'in' or 'into' and ferre meaning 'to carry'. In Latin the word could mean to bring something to bear, to introduce, or even to wage war upon, and from this idea of bringing one thing in from another grew the logical sense of drawing a conclusion. English adopted it in the 1500s with that reasoning sense: to bring in a conclusion from given facts. The root ferre is remarkably productive in English, surfacing in relatives such as 'transfer' (carry across), 'refer' (carry back), and 'offer' (carry toward). A persistent modern trap is confusing infer with imply: the speaker implies (hints) while the listener infers (concludes), and keeping the in- 'carrying in' image fixed in mind helps separate them.
How the word is built
- in- (in, into)
- fer (from Latin ferre: to carry, bring)
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