transcription, транскрипция: [ in-ˈfər ]
verb
( in·ferred ; in·fer·ring )
Etymology: Middle French or Latin; Middle French inferer, from Latin inferre, literally, to carry or bring into, from in- + ferre to carry — more at bear
Date: 1528
transitive verb
1. : to derive as a conclusion from facts or premises
we see smoke and infer fire — L. A. White
— compare imply
2. : guess , surmise
your letter…allows me to infer that you are as well as ever — O. W. Holmes †1935
3.
a. : to involve as a normal outcome of thought
b. : to point out : indicate
this doth infer the zeal I had to see him — Shakespeare
another survey… infer s that two-thirds of all present computer installations are not paying for themselves — H. R. Chellman
4. : suggest , hint
are you inferring I'm incompetent?
intransitive verb
: to draw inferences
men…have observed, inferred, and reasoned…to all kinds of results — John Dewey
• in·fer·able also in·fer·ri·ble in-ˈfər-ə-bəl adjective
• in·fer·rer -ˈfər-ər noun
Synonyms:
infer , deduce , conclude , judge , gather mean to arrive at a mental conclusion. infer implies arriving at a conclusion by reasoning from evidence; if the evidence is slight, the term comes close to surmise
from that remark, I inferred that they knew each other
deduce often adds to infer the special implication of drawing a particular inference from a generalization
denied we could deduce anything important from human mortality
conclude implies arriving at a necessary inference at the end of a chain of reasoning
concluded that only the accused could be guilty
judge stresses a weighing of the evidence on which a conclusion is based
judge people by their actions
gather suggests an intuitive forming of a conclusion from implications
gathered their desire to be alone without a word
Usage:
Sir Thomas More is the first writer known to have used both infer and imply in their approved senses (1528). He is also the first to have used infer in a sense close in meaning to imply (1533). Both of these uses of infer coexisted without comment until some time around the end of World War I. Since then, senses 3 and 4 of infer have been frequently condemned as an undesirable blurring of a useful distinction. The actual blurring has been done by the commentators. Sense 3, descended from More's use of 1533, does not occur with a personal subject. When objections arose, they were to a use with a personal subject (now sense 4). Since dictionaries did not recognize this use specifically, the objectors assumed that sense 3 was the one they found illogical, even though it had been in respectable use for four centuries. The actual usage condemned was a spoken one never used in logical discourse. At present sense 4 is found in print chiefly in letters to the editor and other informal prose, not in serious intellectual writing. The controversy over sense 4 has apparently reduced the frequency of use of sense 3.