informant
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informant
A person who secretly passes information on to an organization such as the police, a newspaper, or an intelligence service.
Der Journalist weigerte sich, die Identität seines Informanten preiszugeben.
The journalist refused to reveal the identity of his informant.
The word is derived from the verb 'informieren' (to inform). The ending '-ant' denotes a person who performs an action, similar to 'Praktikant' (intern) or 'Demonstrant' (demonstrator).
Der Angeklagte war früher als Informant für die Polizei tätig.
The defendant had previously worked as an informant for the police.
In the context of secrets, people often talk about 'schützen' (protecting) an informant, 'preisgeben' (revealing) their identity, or the informant remaining 'anonym' (anonymous).
Die Zeitung muss ihre Informanten schützen, um weiterhin Informationen zu erhalten.
The newspaper has to protect its informants in order to continue receiving information.
This meaning is used almost exclusively in Sprachwissenschaft (linguistics). You can recognize it from words such as 'Studie' (study), 'Forschung' (research), 'Dialekt' (dialect), or 'Muttersprachler' (native speaker).
Die Forscherin interviewte mehrere Informanten, um die Grammatik des Dialekts zu dokumentieren.
The researcher interviewed several informants in order to document the grammar of the dialect.
source
'die Quelle' and 'der Informant' can both mean a person information comes from. 'die Quelle' is more general: it can be a person, a book, a website, or another place where information is found. 'der Informant' is always a person and often sounds like someone secretly passing on information, for example to the police or a newspaper. The words can be confusing because journalists also call people sources. If the person is giving information secretly or confidentially, 'Informant' is more precise.
Der Informant gab der Polizei wichtige Hinweise zu dem Fall.
The informant gave the police important information about the case.
Die Journalistin schützt ihre Quelle und nennt keinen Namen.
The journalist protects her source and does not name anyone.