Etymologically
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info

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 21:41. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈɪn.fəʊ/, US /ˈɪn.foʊ/[1]

Etymology

It is a clipping of information.[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

1906 in Etymonline,[2] 1907 in Merriam-Webster,[5] and 1913 in the OED's quotations.[3] The New Oxford dates it to the early 20th century.[4]

Semantic evolution

It is colloquial,[3][6] and has the same meaning as information.[7][5]

Timeline

  • 1906 – first use.[2]
  • 1913 – OED first quotation.[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. (informal) Information.

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin