infer

infer
(inferred, inferring)

[with obj.]deduce or conclude (information) from evidence and reasoning rather than from explicit statements
推断，推论
[with clause]from these facts we can infer that crime has been increasing.
从这些事实我们可以推断，犯罪率一直在上升。

派生
inferable
adjective

语源

late 15th cent. (in the sense 'bring about, inflict'): from Latin inferre 'bring in, bring about' (in medieval Latin 'deduce'), from in- 'into' + ferre 'bring'

用法

There is a distinction in meaning between infer and imply. In the sentence the speaker implied that the General had been a traitorimplied means that something in the speaker's words suggested that this man was a traitor (though nothing so explicit was actually stated). However, in we inferred from his words that the General had been a traitorinferred means that something in the speaker's words enabled the listeners to deduce that the man was a traitor. The two words infer and imply can describe the same event, but from different angles. Mistakes occur when infer is used to mean imply, as in are you inferring that I'm a liar?instead of are you implying that I'm a liar?The error is common enough for some dictionaries to record it as a more or less standard use: over 20 per cent of citations for infer in the British National Corpus are erroneous for imply

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