suggest

English

Etymology

From Latin suggerere (“to carry or bring under, furnish, supply, excite, advise, suggest”), from sub (“under”) + gerere (“to bear, carry”).

Pronunciation

• IPA: /səˈdʒɛst/, /səɡˈdʒɛst/ SAMPA: /s@"dZEst/, /s@g"dZEst/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛst

Verb

suggest (third-person singular simple present suggests, present participle suggesting, simple past and past participle suggested)

1. (transitive) To imply but stop short of saying explicitly.

   Are you suggesting that I killed my wife?

   • 2011 December 14, Angelique Chrisafis, “Rachida Dati accuses French PM of sexism and elitism”, Guardian:

     She was Nicolas Sarkozy's pin-up for diversity, the first Muslim woman with north African parents to hold a major French government post. But Rachida Dati has now turned on her own party elite with such ferocity that some have suggested she should be expelled from the president's ruling party.

2. To make one suppose; cause one to suppose (something).

   The name "hamburger" suggests that hamburgers originated from Hamburg.

3. (transitive) To ask for without demanding.

   I’d like to suggest that we go out to lunch.

4. (transitive) To recommend.

   The guidebook suggests that we visit the local cathedral, which is apparently beautiful.

Usage notes

• (ask for without demanding) This is a catenative verb that takes the gerund (the form ending in -ing). See Appendix:English catenative verbs

Synonyms

• (imply but stop short of saying explicitly): allude, hint, imply, insinuate
• (ask for without demanding): propose
• See also Wikisaurus:advise

Derived terms

• suggestion
• suggestive

Translations

to imply but stop short of saying directly

Finnish: vihjailla (fi) Hungarian: sugall (hu), sugalmaz (hu)

Portuguese: sugerir (pt) Russian: намекать (ru) (namekát') impf., намекнуть (ru) (nameknút') pf.

to make one suppose

Dutch: doen vermoeden, suggereren (nl) Finnish: viitata (fi), antaa (fi) ymmärtää (fi) Hungarian: sejtet (hu) Portuguese: sugerir (pt)

Romanian: sugera (ro) Scottish Gaelic: cuir an aire (gd) Spanish: sugerir (es) Swedish: antyda (sv)

to ask for without demanding

Arabic: اقترح (ar) (iqtáraHa) Chinese: Mandarin: 建議 (cmn), 建议 (cmn) (jiànyì) Czech: navrhnout (cs) Dutch: voorstellen (nl) Estonian: soovitama Finnish: ehdottaa (fi) French: proposer (fr), suggérer (fr) German: vorschlagen (de) Greek: προτείνω (el) Hebrew: הציע (he) (hitsía) Hungarian: javasol (hu), ajánl (hu)

Interlingua: proponer (ia) Italian: proporre (it), suggerire (it) Japanese: 提案する (ja) (ていあんする, teian surú), 勧める (ja) (すすめる, susumeru) Korean: 암시하다 (amsihada) Malay: cadang (ms) Portuguese: propor (pt), sugerir (pt) Romanian: sugera (ro) Russian: предлагать (ru) (predlagát’) impf., предложить (ru) (predložít’) pf.; советовать (ru) (sovétovat') impf., посоветовать (ru) (posovétovat') pf. Scottish Gaelic: cuir an aire (gd) Spanish: sugerir (es) Swedish: föreslå (sv)

to recommend

Arabic: اقترح (ar) (iqtáraḥa), (imperfect:) يقترح (ar) (yaqtáriḥu) Chinese: Mandarin: 建議 (zh), 建议 (zh) (jiànyì) Danish: forslå (da) Finnish: suositella (fi), ehdottaa (fi), esittää (fi) French: suggérer (fr)

German: vorschlagen (de) Hungarian: ajánl (hu), javasol (hu) Japanese: 提案する (ja) (ていあんする, teian-suru) Romanian: sugera (ro) Russian: предлагать (ru) (predlagát’) impf., предложить (ru) (predložít’) pf.; советовать (ru) (sovétovat') impf., посоветовать (ru) (posovétovat') pf.

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Esperanto: sugesti Interlingua: proponer

See also

• Suggestion on Wikipedia.Wikipedia:Suggestion

External links

• suggest in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• suggest in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• suggest at OneLook Dictionary Search