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imply

[im-plahy]
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verb (used with object), im·plied, im·ply·ing.
  1. to indicate or suggest without being explicitly stated: His words implied a lack of faith.
  2. (of words) to signify or mean.
  3. to involve as a necessary circumstance: Speech implies a speaker.
  4. Obsolete. to enfold.
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Origin of imply

1325–75; Middle English implien, emplien < Middle French emplier < Latin implicāre; see implicate
Related formsre·im·ply, verb (used with object), re·im·plied, re·im·ply·ing.su·per·im·ply, verb (used with object), su·per·im·plied, su·per·im·ply·ing.
Can be confusedimply infer (see usage note at infer)

Synonyms

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3. assume, include.

Usage note

See infer.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

signifyentailhintsuggestinvolvementionincludeintendintimateconnotebetokenevidenceinsinuateimportdenotepresupposereferdesignate

Examples from the Web for implies

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • It implies a pre-existing something, inwrapped as a germ in its environment.

  • In its common, or generally received, acceptation, it implies two things.

  • All matter is magnetic in some degree, and that implies polarity.

    The Machinery of the Universe

    Amos Emerson Dolbear

  • Then everything which is and is not in a certain state, implies change?

  • And each part, as the word 'each' implies, is also an absolute one.

British Dictionary definitions for implies

imply

verb -plies, -plying or -plied (tr; may take a clause as object)
  1. to express or indicate by a hint; suggestwhat are you implying by that remark?
  2. to suggest or involve as a necessary consequence
  3. logic to enable (a conclusion) to be inferred
  4. obsolete to entangle or enfold
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Word Origin

C14: from Old French emplier, from Latin implicāre to involve; see implicate

xref

See infer
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for implies

imply

v.

late 14c., "to enfold, enwrap, entangle" (the classical Latin sense), from Old French emplier, from Latin implicare "involve" (see implication). Meaning "to involve something unstated as a logical consequence" first recorded c.1400; that of "to hint at" from 1580s. Related: Implied; implying. The distinction between imply and infer is in "What do you imply by that remark?" But, "What am I to infer from that remark?"

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper