English
infer
Infer comes from Latin inferō ‘to carry, bring, put, place, or throw in,…’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *bʰer-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰer-‘to bear, carry’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰéreti‘to bear, carry’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*ferō‘to carry, bear’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEferō‘bear, carry’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEinferō‘to carry, bring, put, place, or throw in, into, to, or upon somewhere or something’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1591–1592infer
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰer-‘to bear, carry’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰéreti‘to bear, carry’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*ferō‘to carry, bear’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEferō‘bear, carry’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEinferō‘to carry, bring, put, place, or throw in, into, to, or upon somewhere or something’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1591–1592infer
Earliest quotation: c. 1591–1592, William Shakespeare, The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]: “Full well hath Clifford played the orator, / Inferring…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- ‘to bear, carry’
bar, birth, broad, bread, fortune, burden, barrel, prefer, barn, bearing, bore, fury, baron, breeze, bark, broom, barrow, embargo, fret, berth, furtive, ferret, insufferable, bahar, bier, birr, barrette, bairn, burnish, proffer, 115 more
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰéreti ‘to bear, carry’
bear, borne, phosphate, phosphorus, euphoria, dysphoria, semaphore, phosphine, indifferently, 93 more
through Proto-Italic *ferō ‘to carry, bear’
suffering, differently, differentiation, indifferent, deference, differentially, differentiable, deferential, differentiator, 70 more
through Latin ferō ‘bear, carry’
different, difference, relative, offer, translation, relation, reference, transfer, relate, extraordinary, frustration, translate, suffer, strangely, referendum, differ, extravagant, fertility, referee, fertile, frustrate, elated, extraneous, ablation, fertilization, elation, strangeness, collation, defer, dilate, collate, confer, ablative, infra, fertilize, oblate, estrange, efferent, 79 more
Today it means
verb To introduce (something) as a reasoned conclusion; to conclude by reasoning or deduction, as from premises or evidence.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- / infer