infer
deduce, reason, guess; draw a conclusion: They inferred her dislike from her cold reply.
Not to be confused with:
imply – signify or mean; to suggest: Her words imply a lack of caring.
Abused, Confused, & Misused Words by Mary Embree Copyright © 2007, 2013 by Mary Embree
in·fer
(ĭn-fûr′)
v. in·ferred, in·fer·ring, in·fers
v.tr.
1. To conclude from evidence or by reasoning: «For many years the cerebral localization of all higher cognitive processes could be inferred only from the effects of brain injuries on the people who survived them» (Sally E. Shaywitz).
2. To involve by logical necessity; entail: «Socrates argued that a statue inferred the existence of a sculptor» (Academy).
3. (Usage Problem) To indicate indirectly; imply.
v.intr.
To draw inferences.
[Latin īnferre, to bring in, adduce : in-, in; see in-2 + ferre, to bear; see bher- in Indo-European roots.]
in·fer′a·ble adj.
in·fer′a·bly adv.
in·fer′rer n.
Usage Note: Infer is sometimes confused with imply, but the distinction careful writers make between these words is a useful one. When we say that a speaker or sentence implies something, we mean that it is conveyed or suggested without being stated outright: When the mayor said that she would not rule out a business tax increase, she implied (not inferred) that some taxes might be raised. Inference, on the other hand, is the activity performed by a reader or interpreter in drawing conclusions that are not explicit in what is said: When the mayor said that she would not rule out a tax increase, we inferred that she had consulted with new financial advisers, since her old advisers favored tax reductions.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
infer
(ɪnˈfɜː)
vb (when tr, may take a clause as object) , -fers, -ferring or -ferred
1. to conclude (a state of affairs, supposition, etc) by reasoning from evidence; deduce
2. (tr) to have or lead to as a necessary or logical consequence; indicate
3. (tr) to hint or imply
[C16: from Latin inferre to bring into, from ferre to bear, carry]
inˈferable, inˈferible, inˈferrable, inˈferrible adj
inˈferably adv
inˈferrer n
Usage: 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 (sense 1) means ‘to suggest, to insinuate’ and is normally followed by a clause: are you implying that I was responsible for the mistake?
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
in•fer
(ɪnˈfɜr)
v. -ferred, -fer•ring. v.t.
1. to derive by reasoning; conclude or judge from premises or evidence.
2. to guess; speculate; surmise.
3. (of facts, circumstances, statements, etc.) to indicate or involve as a conclusion; lead to.
4. to hint; imply; suggest.
v.i.
5. to draw a conclusion, as by reasoning.
[1520–30; < Medieval Latin inferre to imply, Latin: to bring in, advance =in- in-2 + ferre to bring, carry, bear1]
in•fer′a•ble, in•fer′ri•ble, adj.
in•fer′a•bly, adv.
in•fer′rer, n.
usage: Many usage guides condemn infer when used to mean “to hint or suggest,” as in The next speaker rejected the proposal, inferring that it was made solely to embarrass the government, holding the position that the proper word for this meaning is imply, and that to use infer for it is to lose a valuable distinction. Many speakers and writers observe this claimed distinction scrupulously. Nevertheless, from its earliest appearance in English infer has had the sense given in definition 3 above, a meaning that overlaps with the second definition of imply when the subject is a condition, circumstance, or the like that leads inevitably to a certain conclusion or point.
Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
infer
, imply — Infer means «to deduce, reason,» and imply means «to hint at, suggest.»
See also related terms for hint.
imply, infer — A speaker or writer implies, a hearer or reader infers; implications are incorporated in statements, while inferences are deduced from statements. Imply means «suggest indirectly that something is true,» while infer means «conclude or deduce something is true»; furthermore, to imply is to suggest or throw out a suggestion, while to infer is to include or take in a suggestion.
See also related terms for imply.
Farlex Trivia Dictionary. © 2012 Farlex, Inc. All rights reserved.
imply
– infer
1. ‘imply’
If you imply that something is the case, you suggest that it is the case without actually saying so.
Somehow he implied that he was the one who had done all the work.
Her tone implied that her time and her patience were limited.
2. ‘infer’
If you infer that something is the case, you decide that it is the case on the basis of the information that you have.
I inferred from what she said that you have not been well.
It is only from doing experiments that cause-and-effect relationships can be inferred.
Collins COBUILD English Usage © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 2004, 2011, 2012
infer
Past participle: inferred
Gerund: inferring
| Imperative |
|---|
| infer |
| infer |
| Present |
|---|
| I infer |
| you infer |
| he/she/it infers |
| we infer |
| you infer |
| they infer |
| Preterite |
|---|
| I inferred |
| you inferred |
| he/she/it inferred |
| we inferred |
| you inferred |
| they inferred |
| Present Continuous |
|---|
| I am inferring |
| you are inferring |
| he/she/it is inferring |
| we are inferring |
| you are inferring |
| they are inferring |
| Present Perfect |
|---|
| I have inferred |
| you have inferred |
| he/she/it has inferred |
| we have inferred |
| you have inferred |
| they have inferred |
| Past Continuous |
|---|
| I was inferring |
| you were inferring |
| he/she/it was inferring |
| we were inferring |
| you were inferring |
| they were inferring |
| Past Perfect |
|---|
| I had inferred |
| you had inferred |
| he/she/it had inferred |
| we had inferred |
| you had inferred |
| they had inferred |
| Future |
|---|
| I will infer |
| you will infer |
| he/she/it will infer |
| we will infer |
| you will infer |
| they will infer |
| Future Perfect |
|---|
| I will have inferred |
| you will have inferred |
| he/she/it will have inferred |
| we will have inferred |
| you will have inferred |
| they will have inferred |
| Future Continuous |
|---|
| I will be inferring |
| you will be inferring |
| he/she/it will be inferring |
| we will be inferring |
| you will be inferring |
| they will be inferring |
| Present Perfect Continuous |
|---|
| I have been inferring |
| you have been inferring |
| he/she/it has been inferring |
| we have been inferring |
| you have been inferring |
| they have been inferring |
| Future Perfect Continuous |
|---|
| I will have been inferring |
| you will have been inferring |
| he/she/it will have been inferring |
| we will have been inferring |
| you will have been inferring |
| they will have been inferring |
| Past Perfect Continuous |
|---|
| I had been inferring |
| you had been inferring |
| he/she/it had been inferring |
| we had been inferring |
| you had been inferring |
| they had been inferring |
| Conditional |
|---|
| I would infer |
| you would infer |
| he/she/it would infer |
| we would infer |
| you would infer |
| they would infer |
| Past Conditional |
|---|
| I would have inferred |
| you would have inferred |
| he/she/it would have inferred |
| we would have inferred |
| you would have inferred |
| they would have inferred |
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
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We are not inferring design to account for a black box, but to account for an open box.
Michael Behe
PRONUNCIATION OF INFERRING
GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF INFERRING
Inferring is a verb.
WHAT DOES INFERRING MEAN IN ENGLISH?
Inference
Inference is the act or process of deriving logical conclusions from premises known or assumed to be true. The conclusion drawn is also called an idiomatic. The laws of valid inference are studied in the field of logic. Alternatively, inference may be defined as the non-logical, but rational means, through observation of patterns of facts, to indirectly see new meanings and contexts for understanding. Of particular use to this application of inference are anomalies and symbols. Inference, in this sense, does not draw conclusions but opens new paths for inquiry. In this definition of inference, there are two types of inference: inductive inference and deductive inference. Unlike the definition of inference in the first paragraph above, meaning of word meanings are not tested but meaningful relationships are articulated. Human inference is traditionally studied within the field of cognitive psychology; artificial intelligence researchers develop automated inference systems to emulate human inference. Statistical inference uses mathematics to draw conclusions in the presence of uncertainty.
CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO INFERRING
PRESENT
Present
I infer
you infer
he/she/it infers
we infer
you infer
they infer
Present continuous
I am inferring
you are inferring
he/she/it is inferring
we are inferring
you are inferring
they are inferring
Present perfect
I have inferred
you have inferred
he/she/it has inferred
we have inferred
you have inferred
they have inferred
Present perfect continuous
I have been inferring
you have been inferring
he/she/it has been inferring
we have been inferring
you have been inferring
they have been inferring
Present tense is used to refer to circumstances that exist at the present time or over a period that includes the present time. The present perfect refers to past events, although it can be considered to denote primarily the resulting present situation rather than the events themselves.
PAST
Past
I inferred
you inferred
he/she/it inferred
we inferred
you inferred
they inferred
Past continuous
I was inferring
you were inferring
he/she/it was inferring
we were inferring
you were inferring
they were inferring
Past perfect
I had inferred
you had inferred
he/she/it had inferred
we had inferred
you had inferred
they had inferred
Past perfect continuous
I had been inferring
you had been inferring
he/she/it had been inferring
we had been inferring
you had been inferring
they had been inferring
Past tense forms express circumstances existing at some time in the past,
FUTURE
Future
I will infer
you will infer
he/she/it will infer
we will infer
you will infer
they will infer
Future continuous
I will be inferring
you will be inferring
he/she/it will be inferring
we will be inferring
you will be inferring
they will be inferring
Future perfect
I will have inferred
you will have inferred
he/she/it will have inferred
we will have inferred
you will have inferred
they will have inferred
Future perfect continuous
I will have been inferring
you will have been inferring
he/she/it will have been inferring
we will have been inferring
you will have been inferring
they will have been inferring
The future is used to express circumstances that will occur at a later time.
CONDITIONAL
Conditional
I would inferring
you would inferring
he/she/it would inferring
we would inferring
you would inferring
they would inferring
Conditional continuous
I would be inferring
you would be inferring
he/she/it would be inferring
we would be inferring
you would be inferring
they would be inferring
Conditional perfect
I would have inferring
you would have inferring
he/she/it would have inferring
we would have inferring
you would have inferring
they would have inferring
Conditional perfect continuous
I would have been inferring
you would have been inferring
he/she/it would have been inferring
we would have been inferring
you would have been inferring
they would have been inferring
Conditional or «future-in-the-past» tense refers to hypothetical or possible actions.
IMPERATIVE
Imperative
you infer
we let´s infer
you infer
The imperative is used to form commands or requests.
NONFINITE VERB FORMS
Present Participle
inferring
Infinitive shows the action beyond temporal perspective. The present participle or gerund shows the action during the session. The past participle shows the action after completion.
WORDS THAT RHYME WITH INFERRING
Synonyms and antonyms of inferring in the English dictionary of synonyms
SYNONYMS OF «INFERRING»
The following words have a similar or identical meaning as «inferring» and belong to the same grammatical category.
Translation of «inferring» into 25 languages
TRANSLATION OF INFERRING
Find out the translation of inferring to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.
The translations of inferring from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «inferring» in English.
Translator English — Chinese
推断
1,325 millions of speakers
Translator English — Spanish
infiriendo
570 millions of speakers
Translator English — Hindi
inferring
380 millions of speakers
Translator English — Arabic
استنتاج
280 millions of speakers
Translator English — Russian
выведение
278 millions of speakers
Translator English — Portuguese
inferindo
270 millions of speakers
Translator English — Bengali
inferring
260 millions of speakers
Translator English — French
inférer
220 millions of speakers
Translator English — Malay
Menyimpulkan
190 millions of speakers
Translator English — German
folgern
180 millions of speakers
Translator English — Japanese
推論
130 millions of speakers
Translator English — Korean
추론
85 millions of speakers
Translator English — Javanese
Inferring
85 millions of speakers
Translator English — Vietnamese
Suy luận
80 millions of speakers
Translator English — Tamil
அனுமானித்தல்
75 millions of speakers
Translator English — Marathi
Inferring
75 millions of speakers
Translator English — Turkish
çıkarım
70 millions of speakers
Translator English — Italian
inferire
65 millions of speakers
Translator English — Polish
wnioskowanie
50 millions of speakers
Translator English — Ukrainian
виведення
40 millions of speakers
Translator English — Romanian
deduce
30 millions of speakers
Translator English — Greek
συνάγοντας
15 millions of speakers
Translator English — Afrikaans
afleidings
14 millions of speakers
Translator English — Swedish
inferring
10 millions of speakers
Translator English — Norwegian
dedusere
5 millions of speakers
Trends of use of inferring
TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «INFERRING»
The term «inferring» is regularly used and occupies the 57.016 position in our list of most widely used terms in the English dictionary.
The map shown above gives the frequency of use of the term «inferring» in the different countries.
Principal search tendencies and common uses of inferring
List of principal searches undertaken by users to access our English online dictionary and most widely used expressions with the word «inferring».
FREQUENCY OF USE OF THE TERM «INFERRING» OVER TIME
The graph expresses the annual evolution of the frequency of use of the word «inferring» during the past 500 years. Its implementation is based on analysing how often the term «inferring» appears in digitalised printed sources in English between the year 1500 and the present day.
Examples of use in the English literature, quotes and news about inferring
QUOTES WITH «INFERRING»
Famous quotes and sentences with the word inferring.
We are not inferring design to account for a black box, but to account for an open box.
10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «INFERRING»
Discover the use of inferring in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to inferring and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.
Yet no book has summarized this work until now. Inferring Phylogenies explains clearly the assumptions and logic of making inferences about phylogenies, and using them to make inferences about evolutionary processes.
2
Strategies that Work: Teaching Comprehension for …
Visualizing. and. Inferring: Making. What’s. Implicit. Explicit. One. day Steph
walked into a staff developers’ meeting and mentioned that she was in search of
a fresh, new picture book to teach visualizing. Our colleague and friend Chryse …
Stephanie Harvey, Anne Goudvis, 2007
3
Essential Research Methods for Social Work
Thus, the first criterion for inferring causality is that the cause must precede the
effect in time. As simple and obvious as this criterion may seem, we will discover
endless problems in this regard in the analysis of social work research findings.
Allen Rubin, Earl Babbie, 2009
4
Analyzing and Inferring the Structure of Code Change
Both kinds of rules concisely represent systematic changes and explicitly note exceptions to systematic changes.
5
Migrations in Prehistory: Inferring Population Movement from …
In this book, Irving Rouse evaluates research on prehistoric migrations, from successfully tested hypotheses explaining the origins of the Polynesians, Eskimos, Japanese, and Tainos, to the more fanciful postulations by authors such as Thor …
6
Themes and Symbols: Inferring the Meaning
Scott, James. InferrIng MeanIng: Themes & Symbols P.O. Box 658 Clayton, DE
19938 www.prestwickhouse.com 1 (800) 932-4593 Item No. 200954.
7
Response Times : Their Role in Inferring Elementary Mental …
Written by a distinguished psychologist, this book is an integrated treatment of the mathematical theory of human response times.
R. Duncan Luce Victor S. Thomas Professor of Psychology Harvard University, 1986
8
Significant Plot Details: Inferring the Meaning
Brand. New. from. Prestwick. House. Teach Your Favorite Young Adult Novels
Without Hours and Hours of Planning! Provide your students with a thoroughly
enriching reading experience through our new Prestwick PowerPacks TM …
9
Inferring, Grades 3 — 4
About the Book The activities in Inferring are designed to improve students’
reading comprehension. The skill of inferring, using information to draw logical
conclusions, is a higher-level thinking skill—a difficult one for young students to
master.
Frank Schaffer Publications, 2012
10
Black Box Methods for Inferring Parallel Applications’ …
In addition, my dissertation also gives limited evidence and points to other work that shows that this inferred information can actually be used to benefit the application, without having any knowledge of the application/OS itself.
10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «INFERRING»
Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term inferring is used in the context of the following news items.
VPD plans to buy 200 more Tasers — Vancouver Courier
… a Taser 55 times during an arrest but didn’t fire it at the suspect, inferring the person surrendered rather than be jolted with the weapon. «Vancouver Courier, Jul 15»
Jury’s verdict on double-stabbing pending | thebaynet.com …
Harrington sided with the state on those points, inferring that it wasn’t that the defendant came to the aid of his friend, it was the manner in which … «Bay Net, Jul 15»
ENCODE Critics: Evolution Proves Our Genome Is Junky … Which …
Standard evolutionary thinking answers this question by inferring that we can tolerate all those mutations because our genome is mostly junk. «Discovery Institute, Jul 15»
Coach (COH) Stock Gets Price Target, Estimates Reduced at Credit …
Despite currently having a low debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, it is higher than that of the industry average, inferring that management of debt levels … «TheStreet.com, Jul 15»
Gauging GDP numbers through electricity generation | Business …
Inferring GDP growth from the index of industrial production or its sub-components such as electricity generation would lead to errors since IIP … «Business Standard, Jul 15»
Research reveals how advertisers play the online bidding game …
… Tardos and colleagues at the University of Virginia and Microsoft Research have proposed a method for inferring what advertisers believe an … «Cornell Chronicle, Jul 15»
CFTC v. Kraft Foods: what is market manipulation? — Lexology
However, the CFTC might be inferring an intent to manipulate the market from Kraft’s trading activity in the futures market (e.g., timing and … «Lexology, Jul 15»
Atticus Finch’s Racist Turn in ‘Go Set a Watchman’ Has a Silver …
Jean Louise nonetheless, in the early chapters I’ve read so far, starts out more-or-less agreeing with Atticus’ passing comments inferring that … «U.S. News & World Report, Jul 15»
Microsoft (MSFT) Stock Rallying After FieldOne Acquisition
Despite currently having a low debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, it is higher than that of the industry average, inferring that management of debt levels … «TheStreet.com, Jul 15»
Salon Should Give Up on Politics and Just Write About Sex
Apparently, the journalists over at Salon are now in the business of inferring what someone really meant, and reporting it as if it were fact. «Mediaite, Jul 15»
REFERENCE
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[ in-fur-ing ]
/ ɪnˈfɜr ɪŋ /
adjective
using reasoning or evidence to derive or conclude something:In this scheme, the intellect is divided into four classifications: the essential intellect, the acquired intellect, the potential intellect, and the inferring intellect.We hope to be able to predict the weather using an inferring AI model based on multiple parameters such as humidity, temperature, wind speed, etc.
noun
the practice of using reasoning or evidence to derive or conclude something: Predicting is one skill that falls under the umbrella of inferring.
QUIZ
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Words nearby inferring
infernal, infernal machine, inferno, inferoanterior, inferred, inferring, infertile, infertility, infest, infestation, infested
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Words related to inferring
meditation, reflection, attention, hope, logic, speculation, thinking, understanding, answer, assumption, cogitation, consequence, consideration, contemplation, corollary, deliberation, derivation, finding, illation, inference
How to use inferring in a sentence
-
Yet the challenges experienced over this year, and the pivots and adjustments they’ve triggered, allow us to infer what may lie around the corner.
-
By then, I had started my work on mapping dark matter using gravitational lensing, proposing a new way to infer its granularity.
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From the shapes and sizes of these hypothetical structures, the scientists could infer whether, and in what manner, dark matter particles interact with themselves.
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You might infer that if someone was a good and competent leader, there would be a pretty good chance that their close relatives, like their children, who have 50 percent of their genes, would also be good leaders.
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This suggests that brains use combinations of generative and recognition models not just to recognize and characterize objects but to infer the causal structures inherent in scenes, all in an instant.
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Kelly began the segment calling Nolan a “self radicalized” Muslim, inferring that his horrific crime was connected to Islam.
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Perhaps all that we are warranted in inferring from it is that the annual procession was, that year, of unusual splendour.
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«Rational» refers to the power of knowledge, of inferring one thing from another, and discriminating between good and evil.
-
He saw a light in Julie’s window and inferring that she had not yet retired he went hastily to her room and knocked on the door.
-
«Then your wife will not go,» answered George, inferring that his services would be required because hers could not be had.
-
How may certain former changes of sea-level be accounted for without inferring any movement of the land?
Meaning of INFERRING in English
p.pr. & ·vb.n. of infer.
Webster English vocab.
Английский словарь Webster.
2012
- Go to Preferences page and choose from different actions for taps or mouse clicks.
inferring
- From the verb infer: (⇒ conjugate)
- inferring is: ⓘClick the infinitive to see all available inflections
- v pres p
Collins Russian Dictionary 2nd Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2000, 1997:
infer [ɪnˈfəːr]
vt (deduce) заключа́ть (заключи́ть perf)
(imply) подразумева́ть (impf)
* is used to mark translations which have irregular inflections. The Russian-English side of the dictionary gives inflectional information.