Informings

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Providing information or conveying knowledge to someone
2. the act of communicating facts or details to an individual or group
3. a process of enlightenment through the transfer of understanding or data

Etymology: "Informings" is simply the plural of "informing," which is a noun formed from the verb "inform" with the suffix "-ing" (in its sense of an act or instance of informing). "Inform" entered English in the 14th century from Old French "enformer," meaning to shape, instruct or give form to, from Latin "informare," "to give form to," built from "in-" and "forma," "form." The verb's original sense was closer to shaping or giving character to something than to passing on news. That sense survives in the older meaning of "informed" as "having a formed character," and in phrases like "informing principle," which refers to what gives a thing its essential nature. The idea of telling someone facts developed later, so a "informing" in the sense of a report or piece of information is a fairly modern extension of that original image of giving something form.

Synonyms: notifications, announcements, reports, communications, messages