inflict

English

Etymology

From Latin īnflīctus, from in- +‎ flīctus, past participle of īnflīgō (“to knock or strike against”), from in- +‎ flīgō (“strike”) (whence in-).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪnˈflɪkt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪkt

Verb

inflict (third-person singular simple present inflicts, present participle inflicting, simple past and past participle inflicted)

1. To thrust upon; to impose.

   They inflicted terrible pains on her to obtain a confession.

   The enemy's artillery inflicted heavy casualties on the enemy forces.

   In that case, I won't inflict my company on you any longer.

   • 1937, Josephus, Ralph Marcus, transl., chapter VIII, in Josephus: With an English Translation (Loeb Classical Library), volume VI (Jewish Antiquities), London: William Heinemann Ltd.; Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, published 1958, →OCLC, book IX, paragraph 1, page 87:

     Now Azaēlos, the king of Syria, made war on the Israelites and their king Jehu, and ravaged the eastern parts of the country across the Jordan […] spreading fire everywhere and plundering everything and inflicting violence on all who fell into his hands.

   • 2011 June 15, Tony White, Working with Suicidal Individuals: A Guide to Providing Understanding, Assessment and Support‎^[1], Jessica Kingsley Publishers, →ISBN, page 87:

     This allowed me to continue inflicting this injury on myself long after I otherwise could have beared^[sic], I think.

Synonyms

• exact
• fetch (a blow/hit)
• visit (literary or formal)
• wreak

Derived terms

• inflictable
• inflicter
• infliction
• inflictive
• inflictment
• inflictor
• noninflicted
• reinflict
• self-inflicted
• uninflicted

Translations

thrust upon, impose

• Bulgarian: причинявам (bg) (pričinjavam), налагам (bg) (nalagam)
• Catalan: infligir (ca)
• Finnish: aiheuttaa (fi), tuottaa (fi)
• French: infliger (fr)
• Galician: inflixir
• German: zufügen (de), verhängen
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: ἐπιτίθημι (epitíthēmi)

• Italian: infliggere (it), comminare (it)
• Latin: infligo
• Persian: دچار کردن (dočâr kardan), تحمیل کردن (fa) (tahmil kardan)
• Portuguese: infligir (pt)
• Russian: наноси́ть (ru) (nanosítʹ), причиня́ть (ru) (pričinjátʹ), налага́ть (ru) (nalagátʹ)
• Spanish: infligir (es)
• Turkish: çarptırmak (tr), çektirmek (tr), uğratmak (tr)