informer
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English enformour, from Anglo-Norman enfourmour; equivalent to inform + -er.
Pronunciation
- Hyphenation: in‧form‧er
Audio (US): (file) - Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)mə(ɹ)
Noun
informer (plural informers)
- One who informs someone else about something.
- A person who tells authorities about improper or illegal activity.
- Being an informer often meant living in fear.
- The police relied on an informer to catch the gang.
- He acted as an informer during the rebellion.
- One who informs, animates, or inspires.
- 1729, Alexander Pope, Prologue to Sophonisba (by James Thomson
- Nature, informer of the poet's art.
- 1729, Alexander Pope, Prologue to Sophonisba (by James Thomson
Synonyms
Translations
one who informs
|
person who tells authorities about improper or illegal activity
|
See also
Anagrams
French
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin īnfōrmāre.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ɛ̃.fɔʁ.me/
Audio: (file) Audio (France (Vosges)): (file) Audio (France (Vosges)): (file) Audio (France (Lyon)): (file) Audio (France (Somain)): (file)
Verb
informer
- to inform; to enlighten; to impart knowledge (upon)
- Il m'a informé de la situation présente.
- He has informed me of the present situation.
- (reflexive) to inquire; to ask; to get information
- Je me suis informé auprès de mon avocat.
- I asked my lawyer.
- 1943, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, chapter X, in Le petit prince [The Little Prince], New York: Reynal & Hitchcock, page 45:
- — Quand ça sera-t-il ? s'informa le petit prince.
- “When will that be?” inquired the little prince.
Conjugation
Conjugation of informer (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| infinitive | simple | informer | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle or gerund1 | simple | informant /ɛ̃.fɔʁ.mɑ̃/ | |||||
| compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | informé /ɛ̃.fɔʁ.me/ | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) |
present | informe /ɛ̃.fɔʁm/ |
informes /ɛ̃.fɔʁm/ |
informe /ɛ̃.fɔʁm/ |
informons /ɛ̃.fɔʁ.mɔ̃/ |
informez /ɛ̃.fɔʁ.me/ |
informent /ɛ̃.fɔʁm/ |
| imperfect | informais /ɛ̃.fɔʁ.mɛ/ |
informais /ɛ̃.fɔʁ.mɛ/ |
informait /ɛ̃.fɔʁ.mɛ/ |
informions /ɛ̃.fɔʁ.mjɔ̃/ |
informiez /ɛ̃.fɔʁ.mje/ |
informaient /ɛ̃.fɔʁ.mɛ/ | |
| past historic2 | informai /ɛ̃.fɔʁ.me/ |
informas /ɛ̃.fɔʁ.ma/ |
informa /ɛ̃.fɔʁ.ma/ |
informâmes /ɛ̃.fɔʁ.mam/ |
informâtes /ɛ̃.fɔʁ.mat/ |
informèrent /ɛ̃.fɔʁ.mɛʁ/ | |
| future | informerai /ɛ̃.fɔʁ.mə.ʁe/ |
informeras /ɛ̃.fɔʁ.mə.ʁa/ |
informera /ɛ̃.fɔʁ.mə.ʁa/ |
informerons /ɛ̃.fɔʁ.mə.ʁɔ̃/ |
informerez /ɛ̃.fɔʁ.mə.ʁe/ |
informeront /ɛ̃.fɔʁ.mə.ʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | informerais /ɛ̃.fɔʁ.mə.ʁɛ/ |
informerais /ɛ̃.fɔʁ.mə.ʁɛ/ |
informerait /ɛ̃.fɔʁ.mə.ʁɛ/ |
informerions /ɛ̃.fɔʁ.mə.ʁjɔ̃/ |
informeriez /ɛ̃.fɔʁ.mə.ʁje/ |
informeraient /ɛ̃.fɔʁ.mə.ʁɛ/ | |
| (compound tenses) |
present perfect | present indicative of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| past anterior2 | past historic of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| future perfect | future of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| conditional perfect | conditional of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| subjunctive | que je (j’) | que tu | qu’il, qu’elle | que nous | que vous | qu’ils, qu’elles | |
| (simple tenses) |
present | informe /ɛ̃.fɔʁm/ |
informes /ɛ̃.fɔʁm/ |
informe /ɛ̃.fɔʁm/ |
informions /ɛ̃.fɔʁ.mjɔ̃/ |
informiez /ɛ̃.fɔʁ.mje/ |
informent /ɛ̃.fɔʁm/ |
| imperfect2 | informasse /ɛ̃.fɔʁ.mas/ |
informasses /ɛ̃.fɔʁ.mas/ |
informât /ɛ̃.fɔʁ.ma/ |
informassions /ɛ̃.fɔʁ.ma.sjɔ̃/ |
informassiez /ɛ̃.fɔʁ.ma.sje/ |
informassent /ɛ̃.fɔʁ.mas/ | |
| (compound tenses) |
past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | informe /ɛ̃.fɔʁm/ |
— | informons /ɛ̃.fɔʁ.mɔ̃/ |
informez /ɛ̃.fɔʁ.me/ |
— | |
| compound | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | |
| 1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en. | |||||||
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way:
(Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81). | |||||||
Related terms
Further reading
- “informer”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012
Latin
Verb
īnfōrmer
- first-person singular present passive subjunctive of īnfōrmō
Middle English
Noun
informer
- alternative form of enformour
Norwegian Bokmål
Verb
informer
- imperative of informere