Word forms: 3rd person singular presenttense infers, present participle inferring, past tense, past participle inferred
1. verb
If you infer that something is the case, you decide that it is true on the basis of information that you already have.
I inferred from what she said that you have not been well. [VERB that]
By measuring the motion of the galaxies in a cluster, astronomers can infer the cluster'smass. [VERB noun]
Synonyms: deduce, understand, gather, conclude More Synonyms of infer
2. verb
Some people use infer to mean 'imply', but many people consider this use to be incorrect.
The police inferred that they found her behaviour rather suspicious. [VERB that]
infer in British English
(ɪnˈfɜː)
verbWord forms: -fers, -ferring or -ferred(when tr, may take a clause as object)
1.
to conclude (a state of affairs, supposition, etc) by reasoning from evidence; deduce
2. (transitive)
to have or lead to as a necessary or logical consequence; indicate
3. (transitive)
to hint or imply
▶ USAGE The use of infer to mean imply is becoming more and more common in both speech and writing. There is neverthelessa useful distinction between the two which many people would be in favour of maintaining.To infer means 'to deduce', and is used in the construction to infer something from something: I inferred from what she said that she had not been well. To imply (sense 1) means 'to suggest, to insinuate' and is normally followed by a clause:are you implying that I was responsible for the mistake?
Derived forms
inferable (inˈferable) or inferible (inˈferible) or inferrable (inˈferrable) or inferrible (inˈferrible)
adjective
inferably (inˈferably)
adverb
inferrer (inˈferrer)
noun
Word origin
C16: from Latin inferre to bring into, from ferre to bear, carry
infer in American English
(ɪnˈfɜr)
verb transitiveWord forms: inˈferred or inˈferring
1. Obsolete
to bring on or about; cause; induce
2.
to conclude or decide from something known or assumed; derive by reasoning; draw as a conclusion
3.
a.
to lead to as a conclusion; indicate
b.
to indicate indirectly; imply
in this sense, still sometimes regarded as a loose usage
verb intransitive
4.
to draw inferences
SYNONYMY NOTE: infer suggests the arriving at a decision or opinion by reasoning from known facts or evidence[from your smile, I infer that you're pleased]; deduce, in strict discrimination, implies inference from a general principle by logicalreasoning [the method was deduced from earlier experiments]; conclude strictly implies an inference that is the final logical result in a process of reasoning[I must, therefore, conclude that you are wrong]; judge stresses the careful checking and weighing of premises, etc. in arriving at a conclusion;, gather is an informal substitute for , infer or , conclude [I gather that you don't care]
Derived forms
inferable (inˈferable)
adjective
inferably (ˈinferably)
adverb
inferrer (inˈferrer)
noun
Word origin
L inferre, to bring or carry in, infer < in-, in + ferre, to carry, bear1
Examples of 'infer' in a sentence
infer
You cannot properly reason, deduce or infer without a framework or structure on which to hang individual items of information.
Evans, Peter & Deehan, Geoff The Descent of Mind - the how and why of intelligence (1990)
There will still be convictions where there is evidence of intent to cause harm, or if it can be inferred from the behaviour of the gang.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
The view of the majority in the Court of Appeal was that after a certain lapse of time prejudice could be inferred without evidence.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
In other languages
infer
British English: infer VERB
If you infer that something is the case, you decide that it is true on the basis of information that you already have.
I inferred from what she said that you have not been well.
American English: infer
Brazilian Portuguese: inferir
Chinese: 推断
European Spanish: deducir
French: déduire
German: schließen
Italian: dedurre
Japanese: 推論する
Korean: 추론하다
European Portuguese: inferir
Latin American Spanish: deducir
Chinese translation of 'infer'
infer
(ɪnˈfəːʳ)
vt
(= deduce) 推断(斷) (tuīduàn)
(= imply) 暗示 (ànshì)
(verb)
Definition
to conclude by reasoning from evidence
I inferred from what she said that you have not been well.
Synonyms
deduce
She hoped he hadn't deduced the reason for her visit.
understand
I understand you've heard about David.
gather
I gather his report is highly critical of the project.
conclude
We concluded that he was telling the truth.
derive
presume
I presume you're here on business.
conjecture
This may or may not be true; we are all conjecturing here.
surmise
She surmised that they had discovered one of the illegal streets.
read between the lines
put two and two together
Usage note
The use of infer to mean imply is becoming more and more common in both speech and writing. There is nevertheless a useful distinction between the two which many people would be in favour of maintaining. To infer means `to deduce', and is used in the construction `to infer something from something': I inferred from what she said that she had not been well. To imply means `to suggest, to insinuate' and is normally followed by a clause: are you implying that I was responsible for the mistake?
Additional synonyms
in the sense of conclude
Definition
to decide by reasoning
We concluded that he was telling the truth.
Synonyms
decide,
judge,
establish,
suppose,
determine,
assume,
gather,
reckon (informal),
work out,
infer,
deduce,
surmise
in the sense of conjecture
Definition
to form (an opinion or conclusion) from incomplete evidence
This may or may not be true; we are all conjecturing here.
Synonyms
guess,
speculate,
surmise,
theorize,
suppose,
imagine,
assume,
fancy,
infer,
hypothesize,
suspect
in the sense of gather
Definition
to learn from information given
I gather his report is highly critical of the project.