informé

Informé is a French adjective and the past participle of the verb informer. It denotes someone who has received information or something that has been made known. In everyday usage, it appears in phrases such as être informé de (to be informed about) and tenir quelqu’un informé (to keep someone informed). The word agrees in gender and number: informé (masculine singular), informée (feminine singular), informés (masculine plural), informées (feminine plural).

Etymology and forms: informé derives from informer, which in turn comes from Latin informare, meaning to shape or form, and by extension to instruct or inform. In French, the participle informé functions as an adjective that can describe a state of having knowledge. It is widely understood in both formal and informal contexts. In English-language texts, informé is rarely used outside of direct French quotations or specialized writing.

Usage notes: As a state descriptor, informé often appears with être as an auxiliary in compound tenses (Je suis informé; Ils ont été informés). The related verb informer is transitive and means “to inform” someone of something. A common idiom is tenir quelqu’un informé, meaning to keep someone informed, especially in professional, journalistic, and organizational communications. The term can also appear in legal or administrative contexts to indicate awareness of a rule, decision, or development.

See also: informer, informant, information.