infer

B2 Topic:Mind & Cognition

US /ɪnˈfɝ/ UK /ɪnˈfɜː/ See IPA manual

Freq #30840

Meanings

1

verb
To reach an opinion or conclusion from the information you have.

From her smile, I inferred that the news was good.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to reach an opinion or... conclude deduce gather

Word family

Forms inferredinferringinfers

Derived forms inferability inferable inferenceinferrableinferralinferrermisinferreinfersubinferuninferant

Related forms illationillative

Etymology

From Latin inferō, from Latin in- (“in, at, on; into”) + Latin ferō (“bear, carry; suffer”) (cognate to Old English beran, whence English bear), from Proto-Italic *ferō, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰéreti (“to bear, carry”), from the root *bʰer-. Literally “carry forward”, equivalent to “bear in”, as in concluding from a premise. Doublet of inbear.

*bʰer- Proto-Indo-European inferō Latin in- Latin ferō Latin *ferō Proto-Italic *bʰéreti Proto-Indo-European

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# infer

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /ɪnˈfɝ/
**IPA (UK):** /ɪnˈfɜː/
**Frequency rank:** 30840

## Meanings
1. To reach an opinion or conclusion from the information you have.

## Examples
- From her smile, I inferred that the news was good.

## Derived Forms
- inferability
- inferable
- inference
- inferrable
- inferral
- inferrer
- misinfer
- reinfer
- subinfer
- uninferant

## Related Forms
- illation
- illative

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *bʰer-
- Root: inferō
- Root: in-
- Root: ferō
- Root: *ferō
- Root: *bʰéreti

## Etymology
From Latin inferō, from Latin in- (“in, at, on; into”) + Latin ferō (“bear, carry; suffer”) (cognate to Old English beran, whence English bear), from Proto-Italic *ferō, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰéreti (“to bear, carry”), from the root *bʰer-. Literally “carry forward”, equivalent to “bear in”, as in concluding from a premise. Doublet of inbear.

## AI Etymology
Infer comes from Latin inferō, from Latin in- (“in, at, on; into”) + Latin ferō (“bear, carry; suffer”) (cognate to Old English beran, whence English bear), from Proto-Italic *ferō, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰéreti (“to bear, carry”), from the root *bʰer-. Literally “carry forward”, equivalent to “bear in”, as in concluding from a premise. Doublet of inbear. The analysis is mainly morphological: the modern verbal form is built from the named base and affix.

## Topics
- Mind & Cognition

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