inform

verb

1. (archaic, transitive)To instruct, train (usually in matters of knowledge).
2. (transitive)To communicate knowledge to.

   “For he would learn their business secretly, / And then inform his master hastily.”

   “I am informed thoroughly of the cause.”

3. (intransitive)To impart information or knowledge.
4. To act as an informer; denounce.
5. (transitive)To give form or character to; to inspire (with a given quality); to affect, influence (with a pervading principle, idea etc.).

   “His sense of religion informs everything he writes.”

   “But others declare that no Creature can be made or tranſmuted into a better or vvorſe, or transformed into another ſpecies or ſimilitude, by man, or devill. […] Martinus [i.e., Martin] Delrio the Jeſuit accounts this degeneration of Man into a Beaſt to be an illuſion, deceptive and repugnant to Nature; for, the ſoule of man cannot informe a beaſts body, […]”

   “Let others better mould the running mass / Of metals, and inform the breathing brass”

   “O! long as breath informs this fleeting frame / Ne'er let me pass in silence Dorset's name”

   “WikiLeaks did not cause these uprisings but it certainly informed them. The dispatches revealed details of corruption and kleptocracy that many Tunisians suspected, but could not prove, and would cite as they took to the streets.”

6. (intransitive, obsolete)To make known, wisely and/or knowledgeably.
7. (formal, transitive)To direct, guide.

   “Don’t forget the code of ethics that informs this profession.”

8. (archaic, intransitive)To take form; to become visible or manifest; to appear.

   “It is the bloody business which informs / Thus to mine eyes.”

adj

1. (not-comparable)Without regular form; shapeless; ugly; deformed.

   “Bleak Crags, and naked Hills, And the whole Prospect so inform and rude”