informant

[in-fawr-muh nt]

See more synonyms for informant on Thesaurus.com

noun

a person who informs or gives information; informer.
a person who supplies social or cultural data in answer to the questions of an investigator.
Linguistics. a native speaker of a language who supplies utterances and forms for one analyzing or learning the language.

Origin of informant

1655–65; < Latin infōrmant- (stem of infōrmāns) present participle of infōrmāre. See inform¹, -ant

Can be confusedinformant informer

Synonyms

See more synonyms for informant on Thesaurus.com

1. source, adviser, tipster.

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

Examples from the Web for informant

Contemporary Examples

She needs to make sure the informant is alive, but he needs him dead.
‘The Good Wife’ Star Mike Colter Defends Lemond Bishop’s Killer Instincts
Kevin Fallon
September 29, 2014
In April of this year, the FBI tried to recruit a member of the Guantanamo defense team as an informant.
A Navy Lawyer Cries Foul on Gitmo’s Kafkaesque Legal System
Eleanor Clift
September 26, 2014
Instead, he was offered a deal: permission to stay, if he became an informant.
Gay Palestinians In Israel: The 'Invisible Men'
Itay Hod
August 13, 2014
They want the benefits of being an informant and the income from doing something illegal.
U.S. Visas Helped Fuel the Juárez Drug Wars
Jason McGahan
July 1, 2014
Prosecutors claim that Monsegur helped prevent as many as 300 cyberattacks during his time as an informant.
How an FBI Informant Orchestrated LulzSec’s Hacking Spree
Joshua Kopstein
June 6, 2014

Historical Examples

She said this calmly and quietly, as though to impress her informant and reassure him.
Dust
Mr. and Mrs. Haldeman-Julius
But how would he know this; surely you would not become the informant?
Graham's Magazine Vol XXXIII No. 2 August 1848
Various
The informant has always met with misfortune, accident—whatever you like to call it.
The Night Riders
Ridgwell Cullum
It only hopes that your Holiness will require your informant to do so.
The Eternal City
Hall Caine
Accordingly the ephors questioned their informant: "How say you the occurrence is to take place?"
Hellenica
Xenophon

British Dictionary definitions for informant

informant

noun

a person who gives information about a thing, a subject being studied, etc

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 informant

n.

1660s, "someone or something that supplies information," from Latin informantem (nominative informans), present participle of informare (see inform). Meaning "one who gives information to the authorities, informer" is from 1783. As an adjective from 1890. The older noun was informer.

informant

Origin of .css-1fxfie5{font-size:22px;}@media (max-width:768px){.css-1fxfie5{font-size:18px;margin:0 10px 10px 0;word-break:break-all;word-wrap:break-word;-webkit-hyphens:auto;-moz-hyphens:auto;-ms-hyphens:auto;hyphens:auto;line-height:22px;}}informant

Synonyms

Examples from the Web for informant

Contemporary Examples

She needs to make sure the informant is alive, but he needs him dead.

In April of this year, the FBI tried to recruit a member of the Guantanamo defense team as an informant.

Instead, he was offered a deal: permission to stay, if he became an informant.

They want the benefits of being an informant and the income from doing something illegal.

Prosecutors claim that Monsegur helped prevent as many as 300 cyberattacks during his time as an informant.

Historical Examples

She said this calmly and quietly, as though to impress her informant and reassure him.

But how would he know this; surely you would not become the informant?

The informant has always met with misfortune, accident—whatever you like to call it.

It only hopes that your Holiness will require your informant to do so.

Accordingly the ephors questioned their informant: "How say you the occurrence is to take place?"

informant

Word Origin and History for informant

n.

Origin of informant