- imply
- late 14c., "to enfold, enwrap, entangle" (the classical L. sense), from O.Fr. emplier, from L. implicare "involve" (see implicate). Meaning "to involve something unstated as a logical consequence" first recorded 1529. The distinction between imply and infer is in "What do you imply by that remark?" But, "What am I to infer from that remark?"