illation

il•la•tion (ih-LEY-shuhn)  n

Definition:
1. the act of inferring or drawing conclusions
2. an inference or conclusion drawn

Origin:
1533; from Late Latin illation, from Latin illatus, past participle of inferre "bring into, cause," from in- "in" + ferre "carry, bear," from PIE *bher- "to bear, to carry, to take"

Related:
Synonyms: infer, inference
Related Words: infer, inference

Sentence Examples:
• "It is a very great mistake," said Burke, many years before the French Revolution is alleged, and most unreasonably alleged, to have alienated him from liberalism: "it is a very great mistake to imagine that mankind follow up practically any speculative principle, either of government or of freedom, as far as it will go in argument and logical illation." - On Compromise, John Morley

• If the coloured increase is due chiefly to propagation among the coloured people themselves then it forms a good argument against those who assert that the half-caste is relatively inclined to sterility, while if the increase is found to be due to cohabitation of white men with coloured women then it is a fair illation that the coloured section is in process of absorption by the whites. - The Black Man's Place in South Africa, Peter Nielsen

• The same high power of reason, intent in every one to explore and display some truth; some truth of judicial, or historical, or biographical fact; some truth of law, deduced by construction, perhaps, or by illation; some truth of policy, for want whereof a nation, generations, may be the worse--reason seeking and unfolding truth; the same tone, in all, of deep earnestness, expressive of strong desire that what he felt to be important should be accepted as true, and spring up to action; the same transparent, plain, forcible, and direct speech, conveying his exact thought to the mind--not something less or more; the same sovereignty of form, of brow, and eye, and tone, and manner--everywhere the intellectual king of men, standing before you--that same marvelousness of qualities and results, residing, I know not where, in words, in pictures, in the ordering of ideas, infelicities indescribable, by means whereof, coming from his tongue, all things seemed mended--truth seemed more true, probability more plausible, greatness more grand, goodness more awful, every affection more tender than when coming from other tongues--these are, in all, his eloquence. - The Art of Public Speaking, Dale Carnagey


Sources: WordSmith

Word-E: A Word-A-Day