inference
[in-fer-uh ns, -fruh ns]
- the act or process of inferring.
- something that is inferred: to make rash inferences.
- Logic.
- the process of deriving the strict logical consequences of assumed premises.
- the process of arriving at some conclusion that, though it is not logically derivable from the assumed premises, possesses some degree of probability relative to the premises.
- a proposition reached by a process of inference.
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Origin of inference
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for inference
Contemporary Examples
The inference that the child was treated as an equal in the community is unwarranted.
This is an example of abductive reasoning: an inference is made based on known facts, in an effort to explain them.
The reasoning task requires the mice to make an inference by exclusion.
Are You Smarter Than a Mouse? Excerpt from Smarter: The New Science of Building Brain PowerDan Hurley
January 10, 2014
Sen. Claire McCaskill said the “innuendo and inference” reminded her of Joe McCarthy.
The inference of “it” is that Burns himself wandered a painful distance down a suicidal path after being bullied in school.
Historical Examples
I knew not what the inference would be, if I said they were not.
Clarissa, Volume 1 (of 9)Samuel Richardson
The known facts, too, all corroborate this inference: let us consider them a little.
The Man ShakespeareFrank Harris
The inference is that he was imported from abroad for the purpose of committing this outrage.
The Secret AgentJoseph Conrad
But she guessed very well what inference was drawn from her application.
The Secret AgentJoseph Conrad
You say that the one proposition is an inference from the other.
inference
- the act or process of inferring
- an inferred conclusion, deduction, etc
- any process of reasoning from premises to a conclusion
- logic the specific mode of reasoning usedSee also deduction (def. 4), induction (def. 4)
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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 inference
n.
1590s, from Medieval Latin inferentia, from Latin inferentem (nominative inferens), present participle of inferre (see infer).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
inference
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Idioms and Phrases with inference
inference
see draw an inference.
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.