inference

American  

[in-fer-uhns, -fruhns] / ˈɪn fər əns, -frəns /

noun

1. the act or process of inferring.

2. something that is inferred.

   to make rash inferences.

3. Logic.

   1. the process of deriving the strict logical consequences of assumed premises.

   2. 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.

   3. a proposition reached by a process of inference.

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inference British  

/ ˈɪnfərəns, -frəns /

noun

1. the act or process of inferring

2. an inferred conclusion, deduction, etc

3. any process of reasoning from premises to a conclusion

4. logic the specific mode of reasoning used See also deduction induction

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inference Cultural  

1. In logic, the deriving of one idea from another. Inference can proceed through either induction or deduction.

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inference Idioms  

1. see draw an inference.

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Other Word Forms

• misinference
  noun
• preinference
  noun
• superinference
  noun

Etymology

Origin of inference

From the Medieval Latin word inferentia, dating back to 1585–95. See infer, -ence

Explanation

An inference is an idea or conclusion that's drawn from evidence and reasoning. An inference is an educated guess. We learn about some things by experiencing them first-hand, but we gain other knowledge by inference — the process of inferring things based on what is already known. When you make an inference, you're reading between the lines or just looking carefully at the facts and coming to conclusions. You can also make faulty inferences. If you hear a person's weight is 250 pounds, you might make the inference that they're overweight. But what if they're seven feet tall?

Example Sentences

Towering Inference: The undisputed AI king is confronting a sea change in computing as “inference” emerges as a more significant demand center than training AI models.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 22, 2026

Inference chips, therefore, must have larger amounts of high-bandwidth memory, and the data centers they sit in must be located close to populations of users to reduce latency time.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 16, 2026

Inference is the process of generating answers or results from AI models.

From Barron's • Feb. 3, 2026

Inference is the sort of effect that happens when we’re constantly trying to put all of the pieces together when we get little fragments of data and information.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 13, 2026

Gordon’s Skill Learning Sequence is based on two main categories of learning: Discrimination and Inference.

From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin

Related Words

• assumption
• conjecture
• interpretation
• presumption
• reasoning
• supposition