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

• deuced
• educed

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 (tú) 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.