Think vs Infer - What's the difference?
think | infer | Related terms |
(label) To ponder, to go over in one's head.
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*
*:So this was my future home, I thought ! Certainly it made a brave picture. I had seen similar ones fired-in on many a Heidelberg stein. Backed by towering hills,a sky of palest Gobelin flecked with fat, fleecy little clouds, it in truth looked a dear little city; the city of one's dreams.
*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-03, volume=408, issue=8847, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= (label) To communicate to oneself in one's mind, to try to find a solution to a problem.
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To conceive of something or someone (usually followed by of'''; infrequently, by '''on ).
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(label) To be of the opinion (that).
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*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=3
, passage=Now all this was very fine, but not at all in keeping with the Celebrity's character as I had come to conceive it. The idea that adulation ever cloyed on him was ludicrous in itself. In fact I thought the whole story fishy, and came very near to saying so.}}
(label) To guess; to reckon.
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(label) To consider, judge, regard, or look upon (something) as.
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*, chapter=1
, title= To plan; to be considering; to be of a mind (to do something).
*Sir (Walter Scott), (Ivanhoe)
*:The cupbearer shrugged up his shoulders in displeasure. "I thought to have lodged him in the solere chamber," said he
*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=4
, passage=“Well,” I answered, at first with uncertainty, then with inspiration, “he would do splendidly to lead your cotillon, if you think of having one.” ¶ “So you do not dance, Mr. Crocker?” ¶ I was somewhat set back by her perspicuity.}}
To presume; to venture.
*(Bible), (w) iii. 9
*:Think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father.
An act of thinking; consideration (of something).
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(label) To seem, to appear.
*:
To introduce (something) as a reasoned conclusion; to conclude by reasoning or deduction, as from premises or evidence.
* 2010 , "Keep calm, but don't carry on", The Economist , 7 Oct 2010:
To lead to (something) as a consequence; to imply. (Now often considered incorrect, especially with a person as subject.)
*, II.3:
* Shakespeare
* Sir Thomas More
(obsolete) To cause, inflict (something) (upon) or (to) someone.
* 1596 , (Edmund Spenser), The Faerie Queene , VI.8:
(obsolete) To introduce (a subject) in speaking, writing etc.; to bring in.
* Shakespeare
Think is a related term of infer.
In lang=en terms the difference between think and infer
is that think is to conceive of something or someone (usually followed by of'''; infrequently, by '''on ) while infer is to lead to (something) as a consequence; to imply (now often considered incorrect, especially with a person as subject).As verbs the difference between think and infer
is that think is (label) to ponder, to go over in one's head or think can be (label) to seem, to appear while infer is to introduce (something) as a reasoned conclusion; to conclude by reasoning or deduction, as from premises or evidence.As a noun think
is an act of thinking; consideration (of something).think
English
Alternative forms
* thinck (obsolete)Etymology 1
From (etyl) thinken, thynken, thenken, thenchen, from (etyl) .Verb
Revenge of the nerds, passage=Think of banking today and the image is of grey-suited men in towering skyscrapers. Its future, however, is being shaped in converted warehouses and funky offices in San Francisco, New York and London, where bright young things in jeans and T-shirts huddle around laptops, sipping lattes or munching on free food.}}
Mr. Pratt's Patients, chapter=1 , passage=Thinks I to myself, “Sol, you're run off your course again. This is a rich man's summer ‘cottage’ and if you don't look out there's likely to be some nice, lively dog taking an interest in your underpinning.”}}
Synonyms
* (sense, communicate to oneself in one's mind) cogitate, ponder, reflect, ruminate; see also * opine; see also * guess (US), imagine, reckon, suppose * consider, deem, find, judge, regard; see alsoDerived terms
* rethink * think about * thinker * thinko * think of * think on one's feet * think out * think over * think piece * think the world of * think twice * think up * think with one's little head * unthinkableNoun
(en-noun)Derived terms
* badthink * doublethink * goodthink * groupthink * have another think coming * rethink (noun, as in "have a rethink")Etymology 2
From (etyl)Verb
think' (''obsolete except in archaic'' ' methinks )- And whanne syr launcelot sawe he myghte not ryde vp in to the montayne / he there alyghte vnder an Appel tree // And then he leid hym doune to slepe / And thenne hym thoughte there came an old man afore hym / the whiche sayd A launcelot of euylle feythe and poure byleue / wherfor is thy wille tourned soo lyghtely toward thy dedely synne
infer
English
Verb
(inferr)- 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.
- These and a thousand like propositions, which concurre in this purpose, do evidently inferre .
- This doth infer the zeal I had to see him.
- The first part is not the proof of the second, but rather contrariwise, the second inferreth well the first.
- faire Serena.
- Full well hath Clifford played the orator, / Inferring arguments of mighty force.
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.[http://englishplus.com/grammar/00000232.htm
