INFORM

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does inform mean? 

• INFORM (verb)
  The verb INFORM has 3 senses:

1. impart knowledge of some fact, state of affairs, or event to

2. give character or essence to

3. act as an informer

  Familiarity information: INFORM used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• INFORM (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they inform    ... he / she / it informs   
Past simple: informed   
Past participle: informed   
-ing form: informing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Impart knowledge of some fact, state of affairs, or event to

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Context example:

I informed him of his rights

Hypernyms (to "inform" is one way to...):

communicate; intercommunicate (transmit thoughts or feelings)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "inform"):

narrate; recite; recount; tell (narrate or give a detailed account of)

acquaint; introduce; present (cause to come to know personally)

regret (express with regret)

designate; indicate; point; show (indicate a place, direction, person, or thing; either spatially or figuratively)

indicate (to state or express briefly)

indicate (suggest the necessity of an intervention; in medicine)

nark (inform or spy (for the police))

explain; explicate (make plain and comprehensible)

tell (let something be known)

instruct; learn; teach (impart skills or knowledge to)

narrate (provide commentary for a film, for example)

account; describe; report (to give an account or representation of in words)

report (make known to the authorities)

cover; report (be responsible for reporting the details of, as in journalism)

announce; denote (make known; make an announcement)

disabuse (free somebody (from an erroneous belief))

point out; remonstrate (present and urge reasons in opposition)

bear witness; evidence; prove; show; testify (provide evidence for)

cue; prompt; remind (assist (somebody acting or reciting) by suggesting the next words of something forgotten or imperfectly learned)

wise up (cause someone to become aware of something)

apprise; apprize; instruct (make aware of)

inoculate (introduce an idea or attitude into the mind of)

acquaint (inform)

warn (notify, usually in advance)

inform (act as an informer)

fill in (supply with information on a specific topic)

update (bring up to date; supply with recent information)

misinform; mislead (give false or misleading information to)

downplay; minimise; minimize; understate (represent as less significant or important)

betray; denounce; give away; grass; rat; shit; shop; snitch; stag; tell on (give away information about somebody)

undeceive (free from deception or illusion)

warn (notify of danger, potential harm, or risk)

advise; apprise; apprize; give notice; notify; send word (inform (somebody) of something)

acquaint; familiarise; familiarize (make familiar or conversant with)

volunteer (tell voluntarily)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

informant (a person who supplies information)

informant (someone who sees an event and reports what happened)

information (knowledge acquired through study or experience or instruction)

information (a message received and understood)

information (a collection of facts from which conclusions may be drawn)

informative (providing or conveying information)

informative (serving to instruct or enlighten or inform)

informative (tending to increase knowledge or dissipate ignorance)

informatory (providing or conveying information)

informing (a speech act that conveys information)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Give character or essence to

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

The principles that inform modern teaching

Hypernyms (to "inform" is one way to...):

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 3

Meaning:

Act as an informer

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Context example:

She had informed on her own parents for years

Hypernyms (to "inform" is one way to...):

inform (impart knowledge of some fact, state of affairs, or event to)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "inform"):

evidence; tell (give evidence)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

informer (one who reveals confidential information in return for money)

informing (to furnish incriminating evidence to an officer of the law (usually in return for favors))

 Context examples 

With the new telescope, Brazil will be more informed to choose the best orbit.

(High tech Russian telescope to start operating in Brazil, Agência Brasil)

My son informs me, Mr. Copperfield, that you were quite devoted to him, and that when you met yesterday you made yourself known to him with tears of joy.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Informed by genetic analysis, they replaced undesirable alleles in modern tomato varieties with desirable alleles.

(Scientists develop genetic path to tastier tomatoes, NSF)

These insights may inform the development of new NAFLD treatments as well as immune-altering therapies for obesity and related health issues in people with NAFLD.

(NIH study sheds light on immune responses driving obesity-induced liver disease, National Institutes of Health)

Such information could be invaluable in helping inform measures to reduce people’s exposure to potentially dangerous carcinogens.

(‘Fingerprint database’ could help scientists to identify new cancer culprits, University of Cambridge)

The United States-based Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) informed vendors on August 28.

(Digital security researchers publicly reveal vulnerability in WPA2 WiFi protocol, Wikinews)

Because I question Jefferson and the unscientific Frenchmen who informed his mind, does not make me a socialist.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

To come with a well-informed mind is to come with an inability of administering to the vanity of others, which a sensible person would always wish to avoid.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

She and her colleagues used a computer model informed by satellite observations of various gases from 1980 to 2015 to simulate the possible sources for OH in the atmosphere.

(Greenhouse Gas ‘Detergent’ Recycles Itself in Atmosphere, NASA)

Scientists confirmed the find, called TOI 700 d, using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and have modeled the planet's potential environments to help inform future observations.

(NASA Planet Hunter Finds Earth-Size Habitable-Zone World, NASA)