deduce

Borrowed from Latin deducere (“lead from or concerning”), from de- (“of, concerning”) + ducere (“lead”).

• (UK) IPA^(key): /dɪˈdjuːs/, IPA^(key): /dɪˈdʒuːs/
• (US) IPA^(key): /dɪˈduːs/

• Audio (US)

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• Rhymes: -uːs

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.

• 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.

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

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

• deuced, educed

deduce

1. Third-person singular indicative present of dedurre.

dēdūce

1. second-person singular present active imperative of dēdūcō

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

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)

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.