Inform Meaning
/ɪnˈfɔɹm/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
verbTo instruct, train (usually in matters of knowledge).
verbTo communicate knowledge to.
Sentence Examples
Did you inform your friends of your home-coming?
You must inform your superior of the results.
The aim of the series is both to entertain and inform.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The principal will ____ the parents of the school closure due to the storm.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The manager will ____ the employees about the new office rules during the meeting scheduled for tomorrow.
Word Origin & History
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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"For he would learn their business secretly, / And then inform his master hastily."
— 1591, Ed[mund] Sp[enser], “Prosopopoia. Or Mother Hubberds Tale.”, in Complaints. Containing Sundrie Small Poemes of the Worlds Vanitie. […], London: […] William Ponsonbie, […], →OCLC:
"I am informed thoroughly of the cause."
— c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:
"But others declare that no Creature can be made or tranſmuted into a better or vvorſe, or transformed into another ſpecies or ſimilitude, by man, or devill. […] Martinus [i.e., Martin] Delrio the Jeſuit accounts this degeneration of Man into a Beaſt to be an illuſion, deceptive and repugnant to Nature; for, the ſoule of man cannot informe a beaſts body, […]"
— 1653, John Bulwer, “Scene XXIIII. Cruell and Fantasticall Inventions of Men Practised upon Their Bodies in a Supposed Way of Bravery, and Wicked Practices both of Men and Devils to Alter and Deforme the Humane Fabricke”, in Anthropometamorphosis: Man Transform’d; or, The Artificial Changling […], 2nd edition, London: […] William Hunt, →OCLC, page 521:
"Let others better mould the running mass / Of metals, and inform the breathing brass"
— 1697, Virgil, “The Sixth Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 397, lines 1169-1170:
"O! long as breath informs this fleeting frame / Ne'er let me pass in silence Dorset's name"
— 1858, Matthew Prior, The poetical works of Matthew Prior, Edinburgh: Printed by Ballantyne and Company, page 120, line 401:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The principal will ____ the parents of the school closure due to the storm.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The manager will ____ the employees about the new office rules during the meeting scheduled for tomorrow.