imply

English

Etymology

From Middle English implien, emplien, borrowed from Old French emplier, from Latin implicare (“to infold, involve”), from in (“in”) + plicare (“to fold”). Doublet of employ and implicate.

Pronunciation

(General American, Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɪmˈplaɪ/
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -aɪ
Hyphenation: im‧ply

Verb

imply (third-person singular simple present implies, present participle implying, simple past and past participle implied)

(transitive, of a proposition) to have as a necessary consequence
The proposition that "all dogs are mammals" implies that my dog is a mammal.
(transitive, of a person) to suggest by logical inference
When I state that your dog is brown, I am not implying that all dogs are brown.
(transitive, of a person or proposition) to hint; to insinuate; to suggest tacitly and avoid a direct statement
What do you mean "we need to be more careful with hygiene"? Are you implying that I don't wash my hands?
(archaic) to enfold, entangle.
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto IV”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, OCLC 960102938:
  And in his bosome secretly there lay / An hatefull Snake, the which his taile vptyes / In many folds, and mortall sting implyes.

Usage notes

This is a catenative verb that takes the gerund (-ing). See Appendix:English catenative verbs

Conjugation

Conjugation of imply

infinitive	(to) imply
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	imply	implied
2nd-person singular	imply, impliest^†	implied, impliedst^†
3rd-person singular	implies, implieth^†	implied
plural	imply	implied

subjunctive	imply	implied

imperative	imply	—

participles	implying	implied

^†Archaic or obsolete.

Synonyms

(to have as a necessary consequence): entail
(to suggest tacitly): allude, hint, insinuate, suggest, (proscribed) infer

Related terms

implicate
implication
implicative
implicit
implicitness

Translations

to have as a consequence

Bulgarian: означавам (bg) (označavam)
Catalan: implicar (ca), comportar (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 意味着 (zh) (yìwèizhe)
Czech: implikovat
Danish: implicere
Dutch: impliceren (nl), inhouden (nl)
Finnish: merkitä (fi), seurata (fi)
French: impliquer (fr)
German: implizieren (de), zur Folge haben
Hungarian: maga után von, magában foglal (hu), implikál, következtetni enged
Ido: implikar (io)
Italian: implicare (it)
Norwegian: implisere, medføre
Polish: pociągać (za sobą)
Portuguese: implicar (pt), ter como consequência, acarretar (pt)
Russian: предполага́ть (ru) impf (predpolagátʹ)
Spanish: implicar (es), acarrear (es), conllevar (es)
Swedish: implicera (sv)
Turkish: gerektirmek (tr), işaret etmek (tr)
Ukrainian: припускати (prypuskaty)
Vietnamese: bao hàm (vi)

to suggest by a logical inference

Bulgarian: подразбирам (bg) (podrazbiram)
Catalan: implicar (ca)
Dutch: suggereren (nl)
Finnish: tarkoittaa (fi), väittää (fi)
French: impliquer (fr)
German: implizieren (de)
Ido: implikar (io)
Norwegian: implisere
Russian: подразумева́ть (ru) impf (podrazumevátʹ)
Spanish: implicar (es)
Turkish: kastetmek (tr), demek istemek (tr) ^{(please verify)} gerektirmek (tr)
Ukrainian: мати на увазі (uk) (maty na uvazi)

to express suggestively rather than as a direct statement

Arabic: اِنْطَوَى‎ (inṭawā)
Belarusian: намякаць impf (namjakacʹ), намякну́ць pf (namjaknúcʹ)
Bulgarian: загатвам (bg) (zagatvam), намеквам (bg) (namekvam)
Catalan: insinuar (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 暗示 (zh) (ànshì), 暗指 (zh) (ànzhǐ)
Czech: naznačit (cs)
Dutch: impliceren (nl)
Finnish: vihjailla (fi), antaa ymmärtää, vihjata (fi)
French: insinuer (fr), sous-entendre (fr)
German: bedeuten (de), implizieren (de)
Greek: υπονοώ (el) (yponoó)
Hungarian: sugall (hu), utal (hu), céloz (hu), sejtet (hu), akar(ja) mondani
Icelandic: gefa í skyn, benda til
Ido: implikar (io)
Japanese: ほのめかす (ja) (honomekasu)
Norwegian: insinuere
Bokmål: antyde (no)
Persian: به طور ضمنی اشاره کردن‎
Polish: sugerować (pl)
Portuguese: dar a entender, insinuar (pt)
Russian: намека́ть (ru) impf (namekátʹ), намекну́ть (ru) (nameknútʹ) (pf.)
Scottish Gaelic: ciallaich, seaghaich
Spanish: insinuar (es), dar a entender
Swedish: antyda (sv), insinuera (sv)
Turkish: ima etmek (tr), manasına getirmek
Ukrainian: натякати (natjakaty)