deduce

play

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

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

See deduce defined for English-language learners

See deduce defined for kids

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

A study by the Lansing State Journal in Michigan has deduced that college basketball players who stay two years in college instead of one do not hurt themselves financially in the long run.

— gary bedore, kansascity.com, "KU notebook: Keenan Fitzmorris of St. James Academy chooses Stanford," 4 July 2017
What if the Phillies, in their evaluations, have deduced that Joseph projects as a solid everyday player on a second-division team while Hoskins possess a higher ceiling?

— matt gelb, Philly.com, "Phillies face an awkward dilemma at first base | Gelb," 30 June 2017
Unfortunately, no details can be deduced about soft tissues like feathers and skin.

— jordan c. axelson, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Thanks to new discoveries, dinosaurs at Milwaukee Public Museum get feathers," 23 June 2017
Deducing there was nothing wrong with this woman that wouldn’t be fixed by time, Meagan saw no reason to keep not-really-talking to someone who wanted to be left alone.

— kellie patrick gates, Philly.com, "Weddings: Meagan Prime and Angelina Jacob," 16 June 2017
Researchers used defendants’ names to deduce their race since that information was unavailable in most court documents.

— chris fuchs, NBC News, "Study Suggests Asians Most Likely to Be Charged With Espionage," 13 June 2017
Read the pieces below and then search the shadows for the hidden references, deducing their meaning from the texts.

— françoise mouly, The New Yorker, "Christoph Niemann’s “Enchanted Forest”," 29 May 2017
Dominick allows the cauldron of her terrifying situation to slowly awaken Susy’s awareness of her own personal power — her power to reason and deduce by using all her other senses.

— dana oland, idahostatesman, "Idaho Shakespeare Festival opens its 2017 season with the thriller ‘Wait Until Dark’," 28 May 2017
Twin Peaks fans have since deduced that this is code for a supernatural case.

— joanna robinson, VanityFair.com, "Twin Peaks: 20 Easter Eggs, References, and Callbacks You Might Have Missed," 23 May 2017

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

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First Known Use: 15th century

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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. from that remark, I inferred that they knew each other deduce often adds to infer the special implication of drawing a particular inference from a generalization. denied we could deduce anything important from human mortality conclude implies arriving at a necessary inference at the end of a chain of reasoning. concluded that only the accused could be guilty judge stresses a weighing of the evidence on which a conclusion is based. judge people by their actions gather suggests an intuitive forming of a conclusion from implications. gathered their desire to be alone without a word

Other Logic Terms

a posteriori, connotation, corollary, inference, mutually exclusive, paradox, postulate, syllogism

DEDUCE Defined for English Language Learners

deduce

play

verb

Definition of deduce for English Language Learners

: to use logic or reason to form (a conclusion or opinion about something) : to decide (something) after thinking about the known facts

DEDUCE Defined for Kids

deduce

play

verb de·duce \di-ˈdüs, -ˈdyüs\

Definition of deduce for Students

deduced

;

deducing

: to figure out by using reason or logic What can we deduce from the evidence?

Learn More about deduce

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deduce

Definition of deduce

deduced

deducing

transitive verb

deducible

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Examples of deduce in a Sentence

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Origin and Etymology of deduce

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Synonyms

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Synonym Discussion of deduce

Other Logic Terms

DEDUCE Defined for English Language Learners

deduce

Definition of deduce for English Language Learners

DEDUCE Defined for Kids

deduce

Definition of deduce for Students

deduced

deducing

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