[syn: understand, infer]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Infer \In*fer"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Inferred; p. pr. & vb. n.
Inferring.] [L. inferre to bring into, bring forward,
occasion, infer; pref. in- in + ferre to carry, bring: cf. F.
inf['e]rer. See 1 st Bear.]
[1913 Webster]
1. To bring on; to induce; to occasion. [Obs.] --Harvey.
[1913 Webster]
2. To offer, as violence. [Obs.] --Spenser.
[1913 Webster]
3. To bring forward, or employ as an argument; to adduce; to
allege; to offer. [Obs.]
[1913 Webster]
Full well hath Clifford played the orator,
Inferring arguments of mighty force. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
4. To derive by deduction or by induction; to conclude or
surmise from facts or premises; to accept or derive, as a
consequence, conclusion, or probability; as, I inferred
his determination from his silence.
[1913 Webster]
To infer is nothing but by virtue of one proposition
laid down as true, to draw in another as true.
--Locke.
[1913 Webster]
Such opportunities always infer obligations.
--Atterbury.
[1913 Webster]
5. To show; to manifest; to prove. [Obs.]
[1913 Webster]
The first part is not the proof of the second, but
rather contrariwise, the second inferreth well the
first. --Sir T. More.
[1913 Webster]
This doth infer the zeal I had to see him. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
infer
v 1: reason by deduction; establish by deduction [syn: deduce,
infer, deduct, derive]
2: draw from specific cases for more general cases [syn:
generalize, generalise, extrapolate, infer]
3: conclude by reasoning; in logic [syn: deduce, infer]
4: guess correctly; solve by guessing; "He guessed the right
number of beans in the jar and won the prize" [syn: guess,
infer]
5: believe to be the case; "I understand you have no previous
experience?" [syn: understand, infer]