in·fer·ence /'in-fə-rəns/ n
1: the act or process of inferring; specif: the act of passing from one proposition, statement, or judgment considered as true to another whose truth is believed to follow logically from that of the former
2: something inferred; esp: a proposition arrived at by inference see also permissive presumption at presumption
3: the premises and conclusions of a process of inferring
Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of Law. Merriam-Webster. 1996.