Sentence:  Men , trees , automobiles , houses , and so on - objects continually confronted in everyday life - had each its characteristic blot appearance and became easily recognizable , at the very beginning of tracing , by an <WSD>inference</WSD> as to what each was . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  the reasoning involved in drawing a conclusion or making a logical judgment on the basis of circumstantial evidence and prior conclusions rather than on the basis of direct observation