/ ˈɪnfərəns; NAmE / noun
1.
[ C ] something that you can find out indirectly from what you already know
SYN deduction :
to draw / make inferences from the data
The clear inference is that the universe is expanding.
2.
[ U ] the act or process of forming an opinion, based on what you already know :
If he is guilty then, by inference , so is his wife (= it is logical to think so, from the same evidence) .
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WORD ORIGIN
late 16th cent.: from medieval Latin inferentia , from inferent- bringing in, from the verb inferre bring in, bring about (in medieval Latin deduce), from in- into + ferre bring.