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 inferences
Contemporary Examples
If I were you, I would be careful about drawing any inferences from that.
If there be in it any inferences which I may believe to be falsely drawn, I do not now and here, argue against them.
Lincoln the Primitive Communicator? What He Can Teach Modern PoliticiansDouglas L. Wilson
December 15, 2012
But Sheen's case is complicated by the inferences necessary to convict him.
Historical Examples
Let us see how far these inferences from plain facts are borne out from his works.
The Man ShakespeareFrank Harris
All inferences from experience, therefore, are effects of custom, not of reasoning7.
This intelligence is exclusive; and I leave you and your readers to draw their own inferences from it.
The Mudfog and Other SketchesCharles Dickens
My inferences are my own, but I shall be answerable for the facts.
The Captain of the Pole-Star and Other TalesArthur Conan Doyle
It is the inferences we draw from this fact that are different.
Social Justice Without SocialismJohn Bates Clark
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 inferences
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 inferences
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.