imply

[im-plahy] /ɪmˈplaɪ/
verb (used with object), implied, implying.
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.
Origin
1325-75; Middle English implien, emplien < Middle French emplier < Latin implicāre; see implicate
Related forms
reimply, verb (used with object), reimplied, reimplying.
superimply, verb (used with object), superimplied, superimplying.
Can be confused
imply, infer (see usage note at infer)
Synonyms
3. assume, include.
Usage note
See infer.
Examples from the web for imply
  • It was a funny line, meant to imply an origin on different planets, but too facile by far.
  • To me, their sharp edges and his bare skin imply danger.
  • There are several that seem to imply that the whole civilization is going to collapse.
  • To snarl or shout would imply that some resistance to her authority exists, and none does.
  • The details of this story are accurate, but they are fitted together too neatly and are made to imply too much.
  • They imply that talk of causation or complication is for wimps.
  • Candidates shall not point rotating index fingers at their own temples to imply that opponent is mentally deranged.
  • Opponents of immigration sometimes imply that adding workers to a workforce automatically brings wages down.
  • Tenses, and all they imply, seem all too often overlooked.
  • They imply that the homogenization has already taken place.
British Dictionary definitions for imply

imply

/ɪmˈplaɪ/
verb (transitive; may take a clause as object) -plies, -plying, -plied
1.
to express or indicate by a hint; suggest: what 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
infer
Word Origin
C14: from Old French emplier, from Latin implicāre to involve; see implicate
Word Origin and History for 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?"

imply in Technology


implies