infer
in-FUR · verb
Origin
From Latin inferō, formed from in- ("in, into") plus ferō ("bear, carry"), so literally "carry into" or "bear in."
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Journey
The literal sense of physically carrying something in shifted to a mental act — carrying a conclusion in from a premise, which is the meaning English kept.
Related words
It's a doublet of inbear, both descending from the same Latin inferō, and ferō is cognate with Old English beran, the ancestor of English bear.
More words
From Proto-Italic
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