Word.ws English Dictionary

illation

/ɪˈleɪʃ(ə)n/US/əˈleɪʃ(ə)n/

illation noun: the act of inferring or concluding, especially from a set of premises; a conclusion, a deduction.

Noun

illation (countable and uncountable, plural illations)

  1. The act of inferring or concluding, especially from a set of premises; a conclusion, a deduction.
    • Now herein there seems to be a very erroneous Illation: from the Indulgence of God unto Cain, concluding an immunity unto himself […]1650, Thomas Browne, chapter I, in Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A[braham] Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […], →OCLC, 1st book, page 2
    • it so orders the intermediate Ideas, as to discover what Connection there is in each Link of the Chain, whereby the Extreams are held together; and thereby, as it were, to draw into View the Truth sought for, which is what we call Illation or Inference […]1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. […], London: […] Eliz[abeth] Holt, for Thomas Basset, […], →OCLC

Synonyms of illation

7 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of illation

Forms of illation

pluralillations

Origin of illation

From Latin illātiō (“logical inference, deduction, conclusion”), from illātus, perfect passive participle of inferō (“carry or bring into somewhere; conclude”), from in + ferō (“bear, carry; suffer”).

Questions about illation

What does illation mean?
Illation means the act of inferring or concluding, especially from a set of premises; a conclusion, a deduction.
What part of speech is illation?
Illation is a noun.
How do you pronounce illation?
Illation is pronounced /ɪˈleɪʃ(ə)n/ (UK).
What is the plural of illation?
The plural of illation is illations.

Words near illation in the dictionary

  1. illaqueating
  2. illaqueation
  3. illaqueations
  4. Illarionov
  5. Illarionova
  6. illation
  7. illations
  8. illative
  9. illative case
  10. illative cases
  11. illatively

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: illation (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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