implicature

American  

[im-pli-kuh-cher] / ˈɪm plɪ kə tʃər /

noun

Philosophy, Linguistics.

1. potential inference that is not logical entailment.

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implicature British  

/ ɪmˈplɪkətʃə /

noun

1. a proposition inferred from the circumstances of utterances of another proposition rather than from its literal meaning, as when an academic referee writes the candidate's handwriting is excellent to convey that he has nothing relevant to commend

2. the relation between the uttered and the inferred statement

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Etymology

Origin of implicature

implicate + -ure