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implication

implication

54 4.7
Connection to a wrong action that suggests guilt
  • noun
  • /ˌɪmplɪˈkeɪʃən/
translation icon : implicación
  • The implication of his statement was that he had knowledge of the wrongdoing.

Examples

  • There are serious implications for the company if the investigation proves negligence.

  • The implication is that it's me.

  • But again, the implication here is pretty massive.

  • So that looks to me to be an implication of the extended mind view.

  • The difference is that they have different levels of implication for a political system.

    Academic text (1991)
  • So again, the implication is she too is a bride.

  • This will have huge implications for the entire judicial process.

  • But there may be privacy implications caused by the broad nature of the resulting policy.

    Academic text (2017)
  • Our results have several implications for the practice of school psychology and professional psychology in general.

    Academic text (2013)
  • The second factor is fear of the unknown: the implications of the treaty.

    Academic text (1993)

Compounds

logical implication
  • Specialized
1 7.7

A connection between two statements that makes the second true if the first is true

How Incriminating

conviction
  • Formal
282 4.3
accusation
394 3.1
implication
54 4.7
mention
220 2.5

Surface Forms

implication singular
implications plural

Morphology

implication = implicate (semi-transparent) = im + plic + ation

The connection to 'implicate' is clear, but the specific legal or moral involvement is not a straightforward derivation.

Etymology

Implication comes from the Latin implicare, built from in- 'in' and plicare 'fold', so it once meant 'to fold into'. Think of someone being 'folded into' a bad plan or trouble, and you are therefore linked to it—so an implication is being involved or connected to something, often in a way that suggests guilt.