different between guess vs infer
guess
English
Pronunciation
- enPR: g?s, IPA(key): /??s/
- Rhymes: -?s
Etymology 1
From Middle English gessen, probably of North Germanic origin, from Old Danish getse, gitse, getsa (“to guess”), from Old Norse *getsa, *gitsa, from Proto-Germanic *gitis?n? (“to guess”), from Proto-Germanic *getan? (“to get”), from Proto-Indo-European *g?ed- (“to take, seize”). Cognate with Danish gisse (“to guess”), Norwegian gissa, gjette (“to guess”), Swedish gissa (“to guess”), Saterland Frisian gisje (“to guess”), Dutch gissen (“to guess”), Low German gissen (“to guess”). Related also to Icelandic giska ("to guess"; from Proto-Germanic *gitisk?n?). Compare also Russian ??????? (gadát?, “to conjecture, guess, divine”), Albanian gjëzë (“riddle”) from gjej (“find, recover, obtain”). More at get.
Verb
guess (third-person singular simple present guesses, present participle guessing, simple past and past participle guessed)
- To reach a partly (or totally) unqualified conclusion.
- To solve by a correct conjecture; to conjecture rightly.
- (chiefly US) to suppose (introducing a proposition of uncertain plausibility).
- 1714, Alexander Pope, Imitations of Horace
- But in known images of life I guess / The labour greater.
- 1714, Alexander Pope, Imitations of Horace
- (colloquial) To think, conclude, or decide (without a connotation of uncertainty). Usually in first person: "I guess".
- (obsolete) To hit upon or reproduce by memory.
Synonyms
- hypothesize
- take a stab
- speculate
- assume
Derived terms
Translations
Etymology 2
From Middle English gesse. Cognate with Dutch gis (“a guess”).
Noun
guess (plural guesses)
- A prediction about the outcome of something, typically made without factual evidence or support.
- Synonyms: estimate, hypothesis, prediction
Derived terms
Translations
Further reading
- guess in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- guess in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
Anagrams
- Guses
guess From the web:
- what guess means
- what gas is made by oop for library
- what guesses are made by think tank
- what is guess by guess
- what is guess known for
- what does guess mean
infer
English
Etymology
From Latin infer?, from Latin in- (“in, at, on; into”) + Latin fer? (“bear, carry; suffer”) (cognate to Old English beran, whence English bear), from Proto-Italic *fer?, from Proto-Indo-European *b?éreti (“to bear, carry”), from the root *b?er-. Literally “carry forward”, equivalent to “bear in”, as in concluding from a premise.
Pronunciation
- (General American) IPA(key): /?n?f?/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /?n?f??/
- Rhymes: -??(?)
Verb
infer (third-person singular simple present infers, present participle inferring, simple past and past participle inferred)
- (transitive) To introduce (something) as a reasoned conclusion; to conclude by reasoning or deduction, as from premises or evidence. [from 16th c.]
- 2010, "Keep calm, but don't carry on", The Economist, 7 Oct 2010:
- It is dangerous to infer too much from martial bluster in British politics: at the first hint of trouble, channelling Churchill is a default tactic for beleaguered leaders of all sorts.
- 2010, "Keep calm, but don't carry on", The Economist, 7 Oct 2010:
- (transitive) To lead to (something) as a consequence; to imply. (Now often considered incorrect, especially with a person as subject.) [from 16th c.]
- a. 1535, Thomas More, letter to Fryth
- the fyrste parte is not the proofe of the second. but rather contrarywyse the seconde inferreth well y? fyrst.
- a. 1535, Thomas More, letter to Fryth
- (obsolete) To cause, inflict (something) upon or to someone. [16th-18th c.]
- 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, VI.8:
- faire Serena […] fled fast away, afeard / Of villany to be to her inferd […].
- 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, VI.8:
- (obsolete) To introduce (a subject) in speaking, writing etc.; to bring in. [16th–18th c.]
Usage notes
There are two ways in which the word "infer" is sometimes used as if it meant "imply". "Implication" is done by a person when making a "statement", whereas "inference" is done to a proposition after it had already been made or assumed. Secondly, the word "infer" can sometimes be used to mean "allude" or "express" in a suggestive manner rather than as a direct "statement". Using the word "infer" in this sense is now generally considered incorrect. [1] [2]
Synonyms
- assume, conclude, deduce, educe, construe
Related terms
- inferable
- inference
- illative
- illation
- -ferous (-iferous)
Translations
Anagrams
- -frine, Finer, finer, frine
Latin
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /?in.fer/, [???f?r]
- (Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /?in.fer/, [?inf?r]
Verb
?nfer
- second-person singular present active imperative of ?nfer?
References
- infer in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- infer in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
infer From the web:
- what inference can be made about the cyclops
- what inference does the narrator make
- what inference about the 1920s is supported by this illustration
- what inference can be drawn from the graph
- what inference can be made from the passage
- what inference can be made about the narrator
- what can be inferred about the cyclops
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