imply English · revision 16151

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1374, Chaucer, Boece|origins=la plicō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɪmˈplaɪ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|emplien]] (later [[m|enm|implien]]),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) [[bor|fro|emplier|t=to enfold]],^(AHD 2024)^(OED 2026)^(Hoad 1986) from [[la|implicō|t=to enfold, involve, entangle]],^(AHD 2024)^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) from [[m|la|in-|t=in]] and [[m|la|plicō|t=to fold]],^(Etymonline)^(ODE 2010) from [[ine-pro|*plek-|t=to plait]].^(Etymonline) The prefix was later respelled after Latin.^(OED 2026) Another form of the same Old French verb, [[m|fro|emploier]], gave ''[[employ]]'', and ''[[implicate]]'' came straight from Latin, so the three are [[doublet|alt=doublets]].^(Klein 1966)^(Hoad 1986)^(Weekley 1921)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To enfold, entangle or involve: about 1374, in Chaucer's translation of Boethius.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ To involve something as a logical consequence is dated about 1400 in Barnhart and Etymonline,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) and 1529, in Sir Thomas More, in the OED.^(OED 2026) To hint at or express indirectly is from 1581.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988) In the 16th and 17th centuries it also meant to employ, overlapping with that word,^(OED 2026)^(ODE 2010)^(Hoad 1986) and to apply or attribute (1625–41).^(OED 2026) The literal sense, to entangle, died out by 1823.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1374 – to enfold, entangle (obsolete).^(OED 2026)

+ * c. 1400 – to involve as a consequence.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+ * a. 1533 – to employ (obsolete).^(OED 2026)

+ * 1581 – to hint at.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To suggest something without stating it directly; to [[hint]].^(AHD 2024)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To involve or point to something as a necessary [[consequence]]: ''rights imply duties''.^(AHD 2024)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(logic)'' To allow a conclusion to be [[infer|alt=inferred]].^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[implicate]]

+ * [[implication]]

+ * [[implicative]]

+ * [[implicit]]

+ * [[employ]]

+ * [[ply]]

+ * [[infer]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The AHD and Collins both refer to their usage notes at ''[[infer]]'', which distinguish the two words.^(AHD 2024)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}