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Wiktionary

imply

English

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Etymology

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From Middle English implien, emplien, borrowed from Old French emplier, from Latin implicare (“to infold, involve”), from in (“in”) + plicare (“to fold”). Doublet of employ and implicate.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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imply (third-person singular simple present implies, present participle implying, simple past and past participle implied)

  1. (transitive, of a proposition) to have as a necessary consequence
    Correlation does not imply causation
    The proposition that "all dogs are mammals" implies that my dog is a mammal.
  2. (transitive, of a person) to suggest by logical inference
    When I state that your dog is brown, I am not implying that all dogs are brown.
  3. (transitive, of a person or proposition) to hint; to insinuate; to suggest tacitly and avoid a direct statement
    What do you mean "we need to be more careful with hygiene"? Are you implying that I don't wash my hands?
  4. (archaic) to enfold, entangle.

Usage notes

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Conjugation

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Conjugation of imply
infinitive (to) imply
present tense past tense
1st-person singular imply implied
2nd-person singular imply, impliest† implied, impliedst†
3rd-person singular implies, implieth† implied
plural imply
subjunctive imply implied
imperative imply —
participles implying implied

†Archaic or obsolete.

Synonyms

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Translations

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See also

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Further reading

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