a person who gives secret information to the police or authorities about a criminal or crime.
The police protected their informant after the raid.
The gang leader suspected there was an informant among his crew.
✦ From French informant, from Latin informant- ('that which gives form or shape'), the present participle of informō ('to inform, instruct'), from in- + formō ('to form, shape').
a person, usually a native speaker, who provides a linguist or anthropologist with information about a language or culture.
The researcher spent months working with a local informant to document the dialect.
Native informants helped map the endangered language's grammar.
