Definition of "inference" []

• The act or process of deriving logical conclusions from premises known or assumed to be true. (noun)
• The act of reasoning from factual knowledge or evidence. (noun)
• Something inferred. (noun)
• Usage Problem A hint or suggestion: The editorial contained an inference of foul play in the awarding of the contract. See Usage Note at infer. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "In that sense of the term inference in which it is confined to the consequent, it may be said that --"
• "Strictly speaking, the term inference, as applied to a product of thought, includes both the antecedent and consequent: but it is often used for the consequent to the exclusion of the antecedent."
• "He concludes this discourse of the vanity of the creature with this plain inference from the whole, That it is folly to think of making up"