Latin

in-

in, into, on, upon

Forms

in-
im- — Used before b, m, or p in Latin.
il- — Used before l in Latin.
ir- — Used before r in Latin.
en- — Developed in French in some words later borrowed into English.

Origin

Reconstructed Proto-Indo-European *en, ‘in.’

Note

Identical spellings can hide two different prefixes: this one indicates position or direction, while the other means ‘not.’

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verb

infer

in-FER/ɪnˈfɜːr/

To reach a conclusion from evidence or reasoning.

From the muddy footprints, I infer that someone came inside.

A woman draws a conclusion from physical evidence by comparing a muddy boot print with two different boot soles and selecting the one whose distinctive tread matches.

Etymology

inLatinin, into, on, upon

+ferLatinbear, carry, bring

The roots mean “carry in”: in reasoning, a conclusion is figuratively brought in as the outcome of an argument. Latin already used the combined verb for drawing conclusions.

In context

Enhanced Public Domain233:00

we need some connection of universals enabling us from such and such a datum to infer an object of a certain sort

1910s Philosophy: Bertrand Russell - The Problems of Philosophy (Audiobook)

More examples

She infers from his smile that he likes the gift.
We inferred the meaning of the unfamiliar word from context.
Are you inferring that the two events are connected?

Forms

infer · infers · inferred · inferring

inference noun — A conclusion reached through evidence or reasoning.

inferential adjective — Based on conclusions drawn from evidence.

Similar words

deduce: Emphasizes a conclusion that follows logically from known facts.
conclude: Emphasizes reaching a final judgment rather than interpreting clues.