Inform
adj, verb ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 To instruct, train (usually in matters of knowledge). archaic, transitive
- 2 give character or essence to wordnet
- 3 To communicate knowledge to. transitive
"For he would learn their business secretly, / And then inform his master hastily."
- 4 impart knowledge of some fact, state of affairs, or event to wordnet
- 5 To impart information or knowledge. intransitive
Show 6 more definitions
- 6 act as an informer wordnet
- 7 To act as an informer; denounce.
- 8 To give form or character to; to inspire (with a given quality); to affect, influence (with a pervading principle, idea etc.). transitive
"His sense of religion informs everything he writes."
- 9 To make known, wisely and/or knowledgeably. intransitive, obsolete
- 10 To direct, guide. formal, transitive
"Don't forget the code of ethics that informs this profession."
- 11 To take form; to become visible or manifest; to appear. archaic, intransitive
"It is the bloody business which informs / Thus to mine eyes."
- 1 Without regular form; shapeless; ugly; deformed. not-comparable
"Bleak Crags, and naked Hills, And the whole Prospect so inform and rude"
Example
More examples"Did you inform your friends of your home-coming?"
Etymology
From Middle English informen, enformen, borrowed from Old French enformer, informer (“to train, instruct, inform”), from Latin īnfōrmō (“to shape, form, train, instruct, educate”), from in- (“into”) + fōrma (“form, shape”), equivalent to in- + form.
From Latin īnfōrmis.
Related phrases
More for "inform"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.