Reflect vs Inform - What's the difference?
reflect | inform |
To bend back (light, etc.) from a surface.
To be bent back (light, etc.) from a surface.
To mirror, or show the image of something.
To be mirrored.
To agree with; to closely follow.
To give evidence of someone's or something's character etc.
*
(senseid) To think seriously; to ponder or consider.
* 1985 , , Option Lock , page 229:
(archaic) To instruct, train (usually in matters of knowledge).
To communicate knowledge to.
* Spenser
* Shakespeare
To impart information or knowledge.
To act as an informer; denounce.
To give form or character to; to inspire (with a given quality); to affect, influence (with a pervading principle, idea etc.).
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-07, author=(Gary Younge)
, volume=188, issue=26, page=18, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title= * Dryden
* Prior
(obsolete) To make known, wisely and/or knowledgeably.
(obsolete) To direct, guide.
(archaic) To take form; to become visible or manifest; to appear.
* Shakespeare
Without regular form; shapeless; ugly; deformed.
In transitive terms the difference between reflect and inform
is that reflect is to give evidence of someone's or something's character etc while inform is to give form or character to; to inspire (with a given quality); to affect, influence (with a pervading principle, idea etc.).In intransitive terms the difference between reflect and inform
is that reflect is (think seriously) To think seriously; to ponder or consider while inform is to impart information or knowledge.As an adjective inform is
without regular form; shapeless; ugly; deformed.reflect
English
Verb
(en verb)- A mirror reflects the light that shines on it.
- The moonlight reflected from the surface of water.
- The shop window reflected his image as he walked past.
- His image reflected from the shop window as he walked past.
- Entries in English dictionaries aim to reflect common usage.
- The team's victory reflects the Captain's abilities.
- The teacher's ability reflects well on the school.
- With fresh material, taxonomic conclusions are leavened by recognition that the material examined reflects the site it occupied; a herbarium packet gives one only a small fraction of the data desirable for sound conclusions. Herbarium material does not, indeed, allow one to extrapolate safely: what you see is what you get
- People do that sort of thing every day, without ever stopping to reflect on the consequences.
- Not for the first time, he reflected that it was not so much the speeches that strained the nerves as the palaver that went with them.
Synonyms
* See alsoDerived terms
* reflective * reflexion * unreflective * nonreflective * reflectorizeinform
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) informen, enformen, from (etyl) enformer, .Alternative forms
* (l) (obsolete)Verb
(en verb)- For he would learn their business secretly, / And then inform his master hastily.
- I am informed thoroughly of the cause.
Hypocrisy lies at heart of Manning prosecution, passage=WikiLeaks did not cause these uprisings but it certainly informed them. The dispatches revealed details of corruption and kleptocracy that many Tunisians suspected, but could not prove, and would cite as they took to the streets.}}
- Let others better mould the running mass / Of metals, and inform the breathing brass.
- Breath informs this fleeting frame.
- It is the bloody business which informs / Thus to mine eyes.
Synonyms
* acquaint, apprise, notify * (act as informer) dob, name names, peach, snitchDerived terms
* informant * information * informative * informatory * informed * informer * misinform * uninformedEtymology 2
(etyl) (lena) informisAdjective
(-)- (Cotton)