inform

B1 Topic:Actions & Processes

US /ɪnˈfɔɹm/ UK /ɪnˈfɔːm/ See IPA manual

Freq #3105

Meanings

1

verb
To tell someone about something officially or formally.

Please inform us if your address changes.
2

verb
To tell the police or someone in authority about another person's wrongdoing.

A neighbor informed on the smugglers.
3

verb
To influence or shape something such as ideas or actions.

A strong sense of justice informs all of her work.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to tell someone about... notify acquaint

More advise apprise discuss enlighten impart peach snitch tell

Opposites

disinformencryptmisguide misinform mislead withhold

Word family

Forms informedinforminginformsuninformed

Derived forms informanceinformant information informative informatoryinformedinformeeinformer misinformoverinformpreinformreinform

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

inform the public
to provide ordinary people with facts or news they need to know

Verb + noun

Etymology

From Middle English informen, enformen, borrowed from Old French enformer, informer (“to train, instruct, inform”), from Latin īnfōrmō (“to shape, form, train, instruct, educate”), from in- (“into”) + fōrma (“form, shape”), equivalent to in- + form.

informen Middle English enformer Old French īnfōrmō Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes

External links

# inform

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /ɪnˈfɔɹm/
**IPA (UK):** /ɪnˈfɔːm/
**Frequency rank:** 3105

## Meanings
1. To tell someone about something officially or formally.
2. To tell the police or someone in authority about another person's wrongdoing.
3. To influence or shape something such as ideas or actions.

## Examples
- Please inform us if your address changes.
- A neighbor informed on the smugglers.
- A strong sense of justice informs all of her work.

## Synonyms
- advise
- apprise
- discuss
- enlighten
- impart
- notify
- peach
- snitch
- tell

## Antonyms
- disinform
- encrypt
- misguide
- misinform
- mislead
- withhold

## Derived Forms
- informance
- informant
- information
- informative
- informatory
- informed
- informee
- informer
- misinform
- overinform
- preinform
- reinform

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: informen
- Root: enformer
- Root: īnfōrmō

## Etymology
From Middle English informen, enformen, borrowed from Old French enformer, informer (“to train, instruct, inform”), from Latin īnfōrmō (“to shape, form, train, instruct, educate”), from in- (“into”) + fōrma (“form, shape”), equivalent to in- + form.

## AI Etymology
Inform comes from Middle English informen, enformen, borrowed from Old French enformer, informer (“to train, instruct, inform”), from Latin īnfōrmō (“to shape, form, train, instruct, educate”), from in- (“into”) + fōrma (“form, shape”), equivalent to in- + form. The analysis is mainly morphological: the modern verbal form is built from the named base and affix.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

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