influx 
5. The place or point at which one stream flows 
into another or into the sea : as, at the influx of 
the brook Physical Influx or Influence, in metaph., 
the process of producing effects of sensation upon the mind 
by a causal action through the brain. The doctrine is that 
matter can act immediately upon mind, and be acted upon 
by it, by direct causation. 
influxion (in-fluk'shpn), n. [= F. influxion, < 
LL. influxio(n-), a flowing in, < L. tnfluere, pp. 
influxus, flow in : see influx.] An influx or flow- 
ing in ; inflow ; infusion ; intromission. 
The retiring of the mind within itself is the state which 
is moat susceptible of divine influxions. 
Bacon, Advancement of Learning, ii. 204. 
Preserve the brain from those sudden influxiotis of blood 
to which it would ... be ... exposed. 
Holden, Anat. (1885X p. 735. 
iufluxionism (in-fluk'shon-izm), n. [< inflexion 
+ -ism.'] The doctrine of physical influx. See 
influx. 
influxionist (in-fluk'shon-ist), n. [< LL. in- 
fluxionista; as influxion + -ist.] An adherent 
of the metaphysical theory of physical influx. 
See influx. 
infiuxioust (in-fluk'shus), a. [< influx + -ious.] 
Influential. 
Men will be men while there is a world, and as long as 
the moon hath an influxious power to make impressions 
upon their humours, they will be ever greedy and covet- 
ous of novelties and mutation. Howell, England's Tears. 
influxivet (in-fluk'siv), a. [< influx + -ive.] 
1. That flows or tends to flow in. 2. Influ- 
ential ; that has or exerts a modifying, direct- 
ing, or swaying influence. 
He is the influxive head, who both governs the whole 
body, and every member which is in any way serviceable 
to the body. Holdsworth, Inauguration Sermon (1642), p. 9. 
influxivelyt (in-fluk'siv-li), adv. In an influx- 
ive manner; by influxion. 
infold (ill-fold'), v. t. [Also enfold; < in-l + 
fold 1 .] 1. To wrap up or inwrap; involve; 
inclose. 
So were the weeds infolded with the water, not to be 
waded, nor by boat to be past thorow. 
Sandys, Travailes, p. 73. 
So that first intelligible world infoldelh the second : in 
this are nine Spheres, moued of the immoueable Empy- 
rean. Purchas, Pilgrimage, p. 175. 
Doth gouty Mammon's griping hand infold 
This secret saint in sacred shrines of sov'reign gold? 
ijinidif, Emblems, iv. 13. 
Infold his limbs in bauds. liloxkmore. 
2. To clasp with the arms ; embrace. 
Let me infold thee, 
And hold thee to my heart. 
Shak., Macbeth, i. 4. 
infoldment (in-fold'ment), . [< infold + 
-ment.] The act of infolding, or the state of 
being infolded. [Bare.] 
infoliate (in-fo'li-at), v. t. ; pret. and pp. info- 
Hated, ppr. infoliating. [Also enfoliate ; < in-% 
+ foliate.] To cover or overspread with leaves. 
[Bare.] 
Long may his fruitful vine infoliate and clasp about him 
with embracements. Howell. 
inforcet, inforcementt. Obsolete forms of en- 
force, enforcement. 
in fore (in fo're). [L. (NL.): in, in; fore, fut. 
inf. of esse (ind. sum), be : see ens and fee 1 .] In 
prospect; prospective; future: as, the governor 
in fore (the future governor). Compare in esse, 
in posse. 
inforestt (in-for'est), v. t. Same as enforest. 
All such Iforestsl as were found to haue been itiforeited 
since the flrst coronation of Henry the second to be disaf- 
forested. Daniel, Hist. Eng., p. 128. 
inform 1 (in-fdrm'), v. [Early mod. E. also en- 
form ; < ME. informen, enformen, < OF. enfor- 
mer, enfourmer, informer, F. informer = Sp. Pg. 
informar = It. informare (cf . D. informeren = G. 
informiren = Dan. informerc = Sw. informera), < 
L. informare, give form to, delineate, sketch, 
inform, instruct, < in, in, on, + formare, form: 
see form, v.] I. trans. 1. To impart form or 
essence to, the object of the verb denoting some 
kind of matter, and the result being the pro- 
duction of a thing of some definite kind; de- 
termine the character or quality of; hence, to 
animate ; actuate. 
If the potter please t' inform the clay, . 
That proves a vessel, which before was mire. 
Quartet, Emblems, iv. 8. 
If one soul were so perfect as to inform, three distinct 
bodies, that were a petty trinity. 
Sir T. Browne, Beligio Medici, i. 12. 
Her constant beauty doth inform 
Stillness with love, and day with light. 
Tennyson, The Day-Dream, Sleeping Beauty. 
2. To enlighten; teach; instruct; advise: as, 
to inform one how he should proceed. . 
3088 
Thou shalt observe to do according to all that they in- 
form thee. Deut. xvii. 10. 
Princesse, my Muse thought not amys 
To ettfofme your noble raynde of this. 
Puttenham, Parthcniades, xiii. 
That you are poor and miserable men 
My eyes inform me. 
Fletcher (and anotlter), Sea Voyage, iii. 1. 
3. To communicate information to; acquaint 
with facts ; apprise. 
Tertullus . . . informed the governor against Paul. 
Acts xxiv. 1. 
4f. To make known ; disclose ; tell of or about. 
He commanded, of his specyalle grace, to all his sub- 
gettes, to lete me seen alle the places, and to cnforme me 
pleynly alle the Mysteries of every place. 
MandemUe, Travels, p. 82. 
Haply thou mayst inform 
Something to save thy life. 
Shak., All's Well, iv. 1. 
At the court it was informed that some of Salem had 
taken out a piece of the cross in their ensign. 
Winthrop, Hist New England, I. 462. 
My servant talk'd to a favourite janizary of the Aga's 
he had appointed to be with me, as if he was a spy, and 
had inform'd what presents I had made. 
Pococke, Description of the East, I. 119. 
5f. To guide ; direct. 
If old respect, 
As I suppose, towards your once gloried friend, 
My son, now captive, hither hath inform'd 
Your younger feet, . . . say if he be here. 
Milton, 8. A., 1. 335. 
= Syn. 1. To inspire, quicken. 2 and 3. Of inform of: 
To apprise of, signify, communicate, disclose, reveal, ac- 
quaint with, advise of, notify or notify of, teach. 
II. intrans. If. To take form or shape; be- 
come visible. 
It is the bloody business which inform* 
Thus to mine eyes. Shak., Macbeth, ii. 1. 
2. To give intelligence or information : gener- 
ally with against or on. 
Alb. Knows he the wickedness? 
Mess. Ay, my good lord ; 'twas he inform'd against him. 
Shak., Lear, iv. 2. 
Informing form, in metaph. See form. 
inform 2 t (in-f6rm'), a. [= OF. (and F.) in- 
forme = Sp. Pg. It. informe, < L. informis, that 
has no form, < in- priv. + forma, form, shape. 
Cf. deform^, a.] Without regular form ; shape- 
less ; deformed. 
An office that . . . joins in marriage as Cacus did his 
oxen, in rude, inform, and unhallowed yokes. 
Jer. Taylor, Works (ed. 1836), II. 261. 
You. . . who are able to make even these informe blocks 
and stones daunce into order. Evelyn, To A. Cowley. 
informal (in-for'mal), a. [= Sp. informal; as 
in- 3 + formal.] 1. 'Not formal ; not in the regu- 
lar or usual form or manner ; not according to 
rule or custom ; unceremonious ; irregular : as, 
an informal writing; informal proceedings; an 
informal visit. 
The proffered cession of Venetia was neither accepted 
nor refused, and there ensued a sort of informal suspen- 
sion of hostilities, which was neither war nor peace. 
E. Dicey, Victor Emmanuel, p. 292. 
I saw everything up to Gravelotte in virtue of an in- 
formal scrap of permission C.eneral von Ooeben had given 
me as I passed through Coblentz on my way to the front. 
Arch. Forbet, Souvenirs of some Continents, p. 39. 
2f. Distracted or deranged in mind. 
These poor informal women are no more 
But instruments of some more mightier member 
That sets them on. Shak. , M. for M., v. 1. 
informality (in-for-marj-ti), .; pi. informali- 
ties (-tiz). [= Sp. informalidad: as informal + 
-ity.] The state of being informal ; want of reg- 
ular or customary form ; an informal act or pro- 
cedure : as, the informality of legal proceedings 
may render them void. 
But they concluded that, whatever informalities or nulli- 
ties were pretended to be in the bulls or breves, the Pope 
was the only competent judge of it. 
Up. Bnrnet, Hist. Reformation, an. 1531. 
informally (in-for'mal-i), adv. In an informal 
manner; irregularly; without the usual forms ; 
unceremoniously. 
informant (in-fo'r'mant), a. and n. [= Sp. Pg. 
It. informante, < L. informan(t-)s, ppr. of infor- 
mare, inform : see inform 1 .] I. a. Giving form ; 
transmuting matter by communicating to it a 
form; informing Informant act, in metaph. See 
act. Informant form, in metaph., a form which affects 
the specific essence of a thing, which penetrates the being 
of the matter, and is not merely extrinsically joined to it, 
as an assistant form, producing only motion. 
II. n. One who informs or gives information ; 
an informer. 
It was the last evidence of the kind. The informant was 
hanged. Burke, Affairs of India. 
"Ahmed, "said the informant, "spurns at restraint, and 
scoffs at thy authority." Irving, Alhambra, p. 460. 
= Syn. Informant, Informer. Informant is special, re- 
lating only to a given occasion : as, who was your in/arm- 
informative 
ant ? Informer may be special or general, relating to 
one occasion or, more commonly, to a practice or occupa- 
tion, as implying a habit of informing, or a dishonorable 
betrayal of knowledge gained in confidence. It has ac- 
quired odious associations. 
This sour informer, this bate-breeding spy, . . . 
This cany-tale, dissentious Jealousy. 
Shak., Venus and Adonis, 1. 655. 
in fprma pauperis (in fdr'ma pa'pe-ris). [L.: 
in, in ; forma, abl. of forma, form ; pauperis, gen. 
of pauper, poor: see/omand pauper.] In the 
character of a pauper. Courts of equity having discre- 
tionary power to award or refuse costs adopted the practice 
of granting leave to sue, without liability to costs in case of 
unsuccess, to suitors showing a good cause of action, and 
making oath to poverty, the privilege being confined to 
those not having above 5 or 820. The power to grant 
such leave is now generally extended by statute to com- 
mon-law courts, and in some jurisdictions the limit lias 
been increased. 
information (iu-fr-ma'shou), . [< ME. infor- 
macion,enformacion (= D. mformatie = G. Dan. 
Sw. information), < OF. information, F. informa- 
tion = Sp. informacion = Pg. inforniafao = It. in- 
formazione,(. L. informatio(n-), outline, sketch, 
idea, conception, representation, < informare, 
sketch, inform: see inform.] 1. Communica- 
tion of form or element ; infusion, as of an ani- 
mating or actuating principle. [Bare.] 
There does not seem any limit to these new informations 
of the same Spirit that made the elements at first. 
Emerson, Works and Days. 
2. Knowledge communicated or received ; par- 
ticular intelligence or report ; news; notice: as, 
to get information of a smpwreck. 
Also whan the Prelate of the Abbeye is ded, I have un- 
dirstonden, be informacioun that his Lampe quenchethe. 
MandevUle, Travels, p. 60. 
I went, in Suez, to the house of a Greek priest, and the 
next day met with a Turkish captain of a ship, a very 
obliging man. who gave me several informations in rela- 
tion to the navigation of the Red sea. 
Pococke, Description of the East, I. 138. 
H was at a loss in what manner to communicate his 
information to the officer in command at Bedford. 
Cooper, The Spy, vi., note. 
3. Knowledge inculcated or derived^ known 
facts or principles, however communicated or 
acquired, as from reading, instruction, or ob- 
servation: as, a man of various information; 
the information gathered from extended travel. 
Sweet bashfulness ! it claims at least this praise : 
The dearth of information and good sense 
That it foretells us always comes to pass. 
Coicper, Task, iv. 71. 
His information is various, and his learning catholic, as 
well as profound. N. A. Rev., CXLII. 595. 
4. In law : (a) An official criminal charge pre- 
sented, usually by the prosecuting officers of the 
state, without the interposition of a grand jury. 
Wliarton. This is the sense in which it is more com- 
monly used in American law. In American constitutional 
law, clauses securing trial by jury in prosecutions by in- 
dictment or information are construed as excluding com- 
plaints before local magistrates for minor offenses, such 
as have always been summarily tried, (ft) A criminal 
charge made under oath, before a justice of the 
peace, of an offense punishable summarily. 
Seeking tales and informations 
Against this man. Shak., Hen. VIII., v. 3. 
Informations were given in to the magistrates against 
him [ l-'ust as a magician, and searching his lodgings a 
great number of copies [of the Bible] were found. 
/. D' Israeli, Curios, of Lit., I. 133. 
(c) A complaint, in a qui tarn action in a court of 
common-law jurisdiction, to recover a penalty 
prescribed by statute or ordinance, (d) In Eng. 
law, a complaint in the name of the crown, in a 
civil action, to obtain satisfaction of some obli- 
gation to, or for some injury to the property or 
property rights of, the crown, (e) In Scots law, 
a written argument in court. 5. In mctapli., 
the imparting of form to matter. In logic the in- 
formation of a term is the aggregate of characters predica- 
ble of it over and above what are implied in the definition. 
[This meaning is found in Abelard.] 
The sum of synthetical propositions in which the sym- 
bol is subject or predicate is the information concerning 
the symbol. C. S. I'eirce. 
Bill of information, an information ; the document or 
pleading stating the ground of complaint. Criminal 
information, iii In n: see criminal. Ex offlcio informa- 
tions, in ana. law, the term by which purely public prose- 
cutions by information were designated (usually had in the 
King's Bench), as distinguished from crnim information*. 
by which prosecutions in the interest of private or prop- 
erty rights were designated (had in the Exchequer), and 
from i]ui turn information*, or informations qui tain, those 
prosecuted for a penalty which the informer is entitled 
to take or share. Information of Intrusion, a suit 
in the English Exchequer against a trespasser on crown 
lands, or the pleading by which such a suit was insti- 
tuted. 
informative (in-fdr'ma-tiv), a. [= F. iiiforma- 
tif= Sp. Pg. It. informative; as inform + -atwe.] 
1. Having power to form or animate. 
