deduce

verb de·duce \ di-ˈdüs , dē- ; chiefly British -ˈdyüs \

Updated on: 22 Apr 2018

Definition of deduce

deduced; deducing

transitive verb

1 : to determine by reasoning or deduction

deduce the age of ancient artifacts

She deduced, from the fur stuck to his clothes, that he owned a cat.

; specifically, philosophy : to infer (see infer 1) from a general principle

2 : to trace the course of

deduce their lineage

—

deducible

play \-ˈd(y)ü-sə-bəl\ adjective

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Examples of deduce in a Sentence

I can deduce from the simple observation of your behavior that you're trying to hide something from me.

Recent Examples of deduce from the Web

Since TESS’s transit method reveals a planet’s size, the two together give enough information to calculate its density, and therefore to deduce whether it is made of rock or gas.

— The Economist, "The search for exoplanets moves to Earth’s back yard," 19 Apr. 2018
The audience receives forms to help them deduce the solution from clues given throughout the fun-filled evening.

— Courant Community, "Community News For The Windham Edition," 10 Apr. 2018
From the distortions, researchers deduced the distribution of dark matter in the cluster.

— adrian cho, Science | AAAS, "Evidence for sticky dark matter comes unglued," 5 Apr. 2018
The audience receives forms to help them deduce the solution from clues given throughout the fun-filled evening.

— Courant Community, "Community News For The Windham Edition," 3 Apr. 2018
Well, his investigation leads to him uncovering that Ms. Grundy's car was parked at the river the day Jason was abducted, and Betty is smart enough to deduce that that means Archie was probably there with her.

— noelle devoe, Seventeen, "A Complete Timeline of Jughead Jones and Betty Cooper's Relationship on "Riverdale" Season 1," 29 Mar. 2018
The scientists deduced—and went on to demonstrate—that herring survival rates differ on the basis of food availability.

— diana gitig, Ars Technica, "Herring could actually benefit from ocean acidification," 25 Mar. 2018
Geologists deduced that a colossal ka-boom had occurred from a rock layer that includes glass beads, which can only be formed at incredibly high temperatures.

— bill livingston, cleveland.com, "Cleveland Cavaliers' Jordan Clarkson: dinosaurs as pets and the giants who owned them -- Bill Livingston," 21 Mar. 2018
The audience receives forms to help them deduce the solution from clues given throughout the fun-filled evening.

— Courant Community, "Community News For The Windham Edition," 20 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'deduce.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of deduce

Middle English, from Latin deducere, literally, to lead away, from de- + ducere to lead — more at ¹tow

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 15th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

deduce Synonyms

Synonyms

conclude, decide, derive, extrapolate, gather, infer, judge, make out, reason, understand;

Related Words

assume, suppose;

conjecture, guess, speculate, surmise;

construe, interpret, read;

contemplate, philosophize, rationalize, think;

ascertain, dope (out), find out;

Phrases

draw a conclusion;

Synonym Discussion of deduce

infer, deduce, conclude, judge, gather mean to arrive at a mental conclusion. infer implies arriving at a conclusion by reasoning from evidence; if the evidence is slight, the term comes close to surmise.