imply

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im·ply / imˈplī/ • v. (-plies, -plied) [tr.] strongly suggest the truth or existence of (something not expressly stated): the salesmen who uses jargon to imply his superior knowledge | the report implies that two million jobs might be lost. ∎  (of a fact or occurrence) suggest (something) as a logical consequence: the forecasted traffic increase implied more roads and more air pollution.DERIVATIVES: im·pli·ed·ly / -ˈplī-idlē/ adv.ORIGIN: late Middle English: from Old French emplier, from Latin implicare, from in- ‘in’ + plicare ‘to fold.’ The original sense was ‘entwine, entangle’; in the 16th and 17th centuries the word also meant ‘employ.’ Compare with employ and implicate.