inform
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ɪnˈfɔɹm/
ipa: /ɪnˈfɔːm/
rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)m
Forms: form: informs
form: informing
form: informed
form: informed
form: enform
Etymology: From Middle English informen, enformen, borrowed from Old French enformer, informer (“to train, instruct, inform”), from Latin īnfōrmō (“to shape, form, train, instruct, educate”), from in- (“into”) + fōrma (“form, shape”), equivalent to in- + form.
Senses: glosses: To instruct, train (usually in matters of knowledge).
examples: text: For he would learn their business secretly, / And then inform his master hastily.
ref: 1591, Ed[mund] Sp[enser], “Prosopopoia. Or Mother Hubberds Tale.”, in Complaints. Containing Sundrie Small Poemes of the Worlds Vanitie. […], London: […] William Ponsonbie, […], →OCLC:
text: I am informed thoroughly of the cause.
ref: 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]:
glosses: To communicate knowledge to.
glosses: To impart information or knowledge.
glosses: To act as an informer; denounce.
examples: text: His sense of religion informs everything he writes.
text: WikiLeaks did not cause these uprisings but it certainly informed them. The dispatches revealed details of corruption and kleptocracy that many Tunisians suspected, but could not prove, and would cite as they took to the streets.
ref: 2013 June 7, Gary Younge, “Hypocrisy lies at heart of Manning prosecution”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 18:
text: Let others better mould the running mass / Of metals, and inform the breathing brass
ref: 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:
text: O! long as breath informs this fleeting frame / Ne'er let me pass in silence Dorset's name
ref: 1858, Matthew Prior, The poetical works of Matthew Prior, Edinburgh: Printed by Ballantyne and Company, page 120, line 401:
glosses: To give form or character to; to inspire (with a given quality); to affect, influence (with a pervading principle, idea etc.).
glosses: To make known, wisely and/or knowledgeably.
examples: text: Don't forget the code of ethics that informs this profession.
glosses: To direct, guide.
examples: text: It is the bloody business which informs / Thus to mine eyes.
ref: 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]:
glosses: To take form; to become visible or manifest; to appear.
Synonyms: sense: communicate knowledge to (trans.)
word: acquaint
word: apprise
word: notify
sense: act as informer
word: dob
word: name names
word: peach
word: snitch
sense: take form
word: materialize
word: take shape
word: advise
word: enlighten
word: impart
word: inform
word: keep informed
word: let know
word: tell
Hypernyms: word: communicate
Hyponyms: word: divulge
word: educate
word: instruct
word: teach
Derived terms: informance
informant
information
informative
informatory
informed
informee
informer
inform on
misinform
overinform
preinform
reinform
uninform
uninformed