However, there are slight differences. Both of them can be used to 'suggest', but there are differences as to ways of usage. Only persons can "implicate", and situations, states, circumstances, are "implied". "Implicate" has a meaning of 'to show to be involved', whereas "imply" has no such connotation.

Imply and infer are two transitive verbs that are commonly confused. Their meanings are closely related, but they shouldn’t be used interchangeably. Imply means to express or suggest something indirectly—without explicitly stating it. Infer means to draw a conclusion from some evidence—in other words, to pick up on something that was implied.

In the theoretical contexts in which the word implicate is used in this way, the word imply is typically used in a narrower sense than in the everyday ones: in that narrower sense, X implies Y only if Y can be derived from X by logic alone (without invoking the conventions about how human communication proceeds).

The verb imply derives from the Latin implicāre. To infer is to deduce or come to a conclusion based on evidence or information presented. To imply is to insinuate or suggest something, either through tone of voice, body language and/or choice of words during conversation or text. burned or burnt? color or colour? smelled or smelt? gray or grey?