# inform

Pronunciation: US say "in-FORM" /ɪnˈfɔɹm/; UK say "in-FAWM" /ɪnˈfɔːm/

## Verb

1. To communicate knowledge to someone; to tell a person facts about something.
   - Simple: To tell someone facts or news so they know about something.
   - _The agency informs travelers of any changes to their flights._
   - _She wanted to inform the committee before the meeting began._
2. To impart information or knowledge.
   - Simple: To give out facts or knowledge.
   - _The best journalism seeks to inform rather than to entertain._
   - _Her writing both educates and informs._
3. To give form or character to something; to shape or influence it with a pervading idea or quality.
   - Simple: To shape what something is like by adding an idea or quality.
   - _A deep respect for nature informs all of her paintings._
   - _These principles should inform our final decision._
4. To act as an informer; to give authorities information that denounces another person.
   - Simple: To tell the police or people in charge about someone who broke the law.
   - _She refused to inform on her colleagues despite the pressure._
   - _A neighbor informed against the family during the occupation._
5. To direct or guide someone or something.
   - Simple: To guide or direct how something is done.
   - _A strict code of conduct informed how the officers carried out their duties._
   - _Experienced mentors help inform the choices new staff make._

## Adjective

6. Without regular form; shapeless, and so misshapen or ugly.
   - Simple: Having no clear shape, and so looking messy or ugly.
   - _The ancient idol was an inform mass of weathered stone._
   - _Critics called the building inform, a heap without proportion._

## Verb

7. To instruct or train someone, usually in matters of knowledge. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: To teach or train someone in a subject.
   - _She engaged a scholar to inform her sons in philosophy._
   - _The academy informed its students in rhetoric and logic._
8. To take shape and become visible or otherwise apparent. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: To take shape and become something you can see.
   - _As dawn broke, the distant hills slowly informed against the sky._
   - _Strange shapes seemed to inform within the swirling smoke._
9. To make things known in a wise and knowledgeable manner. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To share knowledge in a wise and skilled way.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–5, 7–9** — From Middle English "informen," borrowed from Old French "enformer, informer" (to train, instruct, inform), from Latin "īnfōrmō" (to shape, form, train, instruct, educate), formed from "in-" (into) plus "fōrma" (form, shape).
**Meaning 6** — From Latin "īnfōrmis."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/inform (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).