Etymologically
Log in

inference

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 1 November 2026 at 01:35. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈɪn.fə.ɹəns/[1]
  • US: /ˈɪn.fɚ.əns/, /ˈɪn.fɹəns/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin inferentia,[2][3][4][5][6][7][8] from Latin inferēns (“bringing in”), the present participle of īnferō (“to bring in; to conclude, deduce”),[2][3][5][7] from in- (“in”) and ferō (“to carry, bear”),[2][9] from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to carry”).[2][9] The OED finds the medieval Latin word in Abelard, used in place of classical illātiō, and compares Italian inferenza, recorded by Florio in 1611.[3] Johnson (1755) took the English word from French as well as from the verb infer.[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The action of inferring, drawing a conclusion from known or assumed facts: 1593, in Richard Hooker's Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity.[3] The OED's first edition and Merriam-Webster give 1594,[11][6] and Etymonline the 1590s.[2]

Semantic evolution

Within twenty years the word passed from the act to its result: by 1612, in Bacon's Essays, an inference was also the conclusion drawn, and so an implication, the conclusion one is meant to draw.[3][2] A rare sense, what a thing brings in its train, appears in 1673.[3] Johnson (1755) gave only "conclusion drawn from previous arguments", quoting Glanvill.[10] Collins notes that in logic it also names the particular mode of reasoning used, such as deduction or induction,[12] and since 1962 it has also named a rule allowing inferences of a given form.[3] From 1960 it was used of a computer's simulated reasoning, and later especially of the working of a trained artificial intelligence system.[3]

Timeline

  • 1593 – the action or process of inferring.[3] Merriam-Webster dates it to 1594.[6]
  • 1612 – a conclusion drawn from data or premises; an implication.[3][2]
  • 1673 – what a thing leads to or brings with it (obsolete, rare).[3]
  • 1960 – conclusions drawn by a computer program.[3]
  • 1962 – in logic, a rule permitting inferences of a set form.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The act or process of inferring: reaching a conclusion from facts, evidence or premises; in logic, passing from statements taken as true to another that follows from them: Her case rested on inference rather than direct evidence.[12][6][3]
  2. A conclusion reached in this way: The obvious inference was that the letter had been forged.[12][3]
  3. (logic) The particular form of reasoning used, such as deduction or induction, or a rule allowing a conclusion of a given form.[12][3]
  4. (computing) The drawing of conclusions by a computer program, in later use especially by a trained artificial intelligence model.[3]

Word family

  • inferential
  • misinference
  • infer
  • illation

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  6. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  9. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  10. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  11. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  12. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins