Forewarn vs Inform - What's the difference?
forewarn | inform |
To warn in advance.
*{{quote-book, year=1913, author=
, title=Lord Stranleigh Abroad
, chapter=4 (archaic) To instruct, train (usually in matters of knowledge).
To communicate knowledge to.
* Spenser
* Shakespeare
To impart information or knowledge.
To act as an informer; denounce.
To give form or character to; to inspire (with a given quality); to affect, influence (with a pervading principle, idea etc.).
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-07, author=(Gary Younge)
, volume=188, issue=26, page=18, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title= * Dryden
* Prior
(obsolete) To make known, wisely and/or knowledgeably.
(obsolete) To direct, guide.
(archaic) To take form; to become visible or manifest; to appear.
* Shakespeare
Without regular form; shapeless; ugly; deformed.
As verbs the difference between forewarn and inform
is that forewarn is to warn in advance while inform is (archaic|transitive) to instruct, train (usually in matters of knowledge).As an adjective inform is
without regular form; shapeless; ugly; deformed.forewarn
English
Verb
(en verb)citation, passage=“I came down like a wolf on the fold, didn’t I??? Why didn’t I telephone??? Strategy, my dear boy, strategy. This is a surprise attack, and I’d no wish that the garrison, forewarned , should escape. …”}}
Usage notes
Some discourage this use, finding the term redundant, as a warning is necessarily in advance. However, considering the word's continued presence in the English language ever since the time of the Anglo-Saxons (when it was first coined), the legitimacy of such complaints is somewhat questionable.The dictionary of disagreeable English, Robert Hartwell Fiske, 2006,p. 160Additionally, many others argue that forewarn' is simple emphasis (rather than redundancy), has connotations of “well in advance” (“Watch out!” and “Watch your head!” are warnings, but not forewarnings), and has connotations of “''correct'' prediction”, as in foretell. Both '''forewarn''' and (term) are well-established words, with ' forewarn being attested since 1330.
Derived terms
* forewarned is forearmedReferences
Forewarning signs”, The Grammarphobia Blog, May 8, 2007
inform
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) informen, enformen, from (etyl) enformer, .Alternative forms
* (l) (obsolete)Verb
(en verb)- For he would learn their business secretly, / And then inform his master hastily.
- I am informed thoroughly of the cause.
Hypocrisy lies at heart of Manning prosecution, passage=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.}}
- Let others better mould the running mass / Of metals, and inform the breathing brass.
- Breath informs this fleeting frame.
- It is the bloody business which informs / Thus to mine eyes.
Synonyms
* acquaint, apprise, notify * (act as informer) dob, name names, peach, snitchDerived terms
* informant * information * informative * informatory * informed * informer * misinform * uninformedEtymology 2
(etyl) (lena) informisAdjective
(-)- (Cotton)