inform
Pronunciation Etymology 1
This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.003
Pronunciation Etymology 1
From Middle English informen, enformen, borrowed from Old French enformer, informer ("to train, instruct, inform"), from Latin īnfōrmō, from in- ("into") + fōrma ("form, shape"), equivalent to in- + form.
Verbinform (informs, present participle informing; simple past and past participle informed)
- (archaic, transitive) To instruct, train (usually in matters of knowledge).
- (transitive) To communicate knowledge to.
- 1591, Ed[mund] Sp[enser], “Prosopopoia. Or Mother Hubberds Tale.”, in Complaints. Containing Sundrie Small Poemes of the Worlds Vanitie. […], London: […] William Ponsonbie, […], →OCLC ↗:
- For he would learn their business secretly, / And then inform his master hastily.
- c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act IV, scene i]:
- I am informed thoroughly of the cause.
- (intransitive) To impart information or knowledge.
- To act as an informer; denounce.
- (transitive) To give form or character to; to inspire (with a given quality); to affect, influence (with a pervading principle, idea etc.).
- His sense of religion informs everything he writes.
- 1697, Virgil, “The Sixth Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC ↗, page 397 ↗, lines 1169-1170:
- Let others better mould the running mass / Of metals, and inform the breathing brass
- (obsolete, intransitive) To make known, wisely and/or knowledgeably.
- (formal, transitive) To direct, guide.
- Don't forget the code of ethics that informs this profession.
- (archaic, intransitive) To take form; to become visible or manifest; to appear.
- c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act II, scene i]:
- It is the bloody business which informs / Thus to mine eyes.
- (communicate knowledge to (trans.)) acquaint, apprise, notify; See also Thesaurus:inform
- (act as informer) dob, name names, peach, snitch; See also Thesaurus:rat out
- (take form) materialize, take shape; See also Thesaurus:come into being
- French: informer
- German: informieren, mitteilen, benachrichtigen, Bescheid sagen
- Italian: informare
- Portuguese: informar
- Russian: сообща́ть
- Spanish: informar, enterar, reportar
- French: informer, instruire
- German: informieren
- Portuguese: informar
- French: dénoncer
- German: denunzieren
- Russian: доноси́ть
- Spanish: delatar
- French: informer
inform (not comparable)
- Without regular form; shapeless; ugly; deformed.
- 1765, Charles Cotton, “Wonders of Peake”, in Poetical Works, page 342:
- Bleak Crags, and naked Hills,
And the whole Prospect so inform and rude
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