Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Deduce

De-duce′

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Deduced
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Deducing
.]
[L.
deducere
;
de-
+
ducere
to lead, draw. See
Duke
, and cf.
Deduct
.]
1.
To lead forth.
[A Latinism]
He should hither
deduce
a colony.
Selden.
2.
To take away; to deduct; to subtract;
as, to
deduce
a part from the whole
.
[Obs.]
B. Jonson.
3.
To derive or draw; to derive by logical process; to obtain or arrive at as the result of reasoning; to gather, as a truth or opinion, from what precedes or from premises; to infer; – with from or out of.
O goddess, say, shall I
deduce
my rhymes
From the dire nation in its early times?
Pope.
Reasoning is nothing but the faculty of
deducing
unknown truths from principles already known.
Locke.
See what regard will be paid to the pedigree which
deduces
your descent from kings and conquerors.
Sir W. Scott.

Webster 1828 Edition


Deduce

DEDUCE

,
Verb.
T.
[L. To lead, bring or draw.]
1.
To draw from; to bring from.
O goddess, say, shall I deduce my rhymes
From the dire nation in its early times?
2.
To draw from, in reasoning; to gather a truth, opinion or proposition from premises; to infer something from what precedes.
Reasoning is nothing but the faculty of deducing unknown truths from principles already known.
3.
To deduct.
4.
To transplant.

Definition 2024


deduce

deduce

English

Verb

deduce (third-person singular simple present deduces, present participle deducing, simple past and past participle deduced)

  1. (transitive) To reach a conclusion by applying rules of logic to given premises.
    • Alexander Pope
      O goddess, say, shall I deduce my rhymes / From the dire nation in its early times?
    • John Locke
      Reasoning is nothing but the faculty of deducing unknown truths from principles already known.
    • Sir Walter Scott
      See what regard will be paid to the pedigree which deduces your descent from kings and conquerors.
  2. (obsolete) To take away; to deduct; to subtract.
    to deduce a part from the whole
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Ben Jonson to this entry?)
  3. (obsolete, Latinism) To lead forth.
    • Selden
      He should hither deduce a colony.

Usage notes

  • For example, from the premises "all good people believe in the tooth fairy" and "Jimmy does not believe in the tooth fairy", we deduce the conclusion "Jimmy is not a good person". This particular form of deduction is called a syllogism. Note that in this case we reach a false conclusion by correct deduction from a false premise.

Antonyms

  • (reach a conclusion by applying rules of logic): induce

Synonyms

  • (reach a conclusion by applying rules of logic): conclude, infer

Translations

Related terms

Anagrams


Italian

Verb

deduce

  1. Third-person singular indicative present of dedurre.

Latin

Verb

dēdūce

  1. second-person singular present active imperative of dēdūcō

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowing from Latin deducere, French déduire, with conjugation based on duce.

Verb

a deduce (third-person singular present deduce, past participle dedus) 3rd conj.

  1. (transitive) to infer, deduce (to conclude by reasoning or deduction, as from premises or evidence)
Conjugation

Spanish

Verb

deduce

  1. Informal second-person singular () affirmative imperative form of deducir.
  2. Formal second-person singular (usted) present indicative form of deducir.
  3. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted?) present indicative form of deducir.