inform

Etymology 1

From Middle English informen, enformen, borrowed from Old French enformer, informer (“to train, instruct, inform”), from Latin īnfōrmō (“to shape, form, train, instruct, educate”), from in- (“into”) + fōrma (“form, shape”), equivalent to in- + form.

verb

1. (archaic, transitive) To instruct, train (usually in matters of knowledge).
2. (transitive) To communicate knowledge to.
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.
   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. 2013-06-07, Gary Younge, “Hypocrisy lies at heart of Manning prosecution”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 18
   O! long as breath informs this fleeting frame / Ne'er let me pass in silence Dorset's name 1858, Matthew Prior, The poetical works of Matthew Prior, Edinburgh: Printed by Ballantyne and Company, line 401, page 120
6. (obsolete, intransitive) To make known, wisely and/or knowledgeably.
7. (obsolete, transitive) To direct, guide.
8. (archaic, intransitive) To take form; to become visible or manifest; to appear.

Etymology 2

Latin īnfōrmis

adj

1. Without regular form; shapeless; ugly; deformed.
   Bleak Crags, and naked Hills, And the whole Prospect so inform and rude 1765, Charles Cotton, “Wonders of Peake”, in Poetical Works, page 342