induct
Americanverb (used with object)
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inducts,
present (3rd person singular)
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inducted,
past participle, past
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inducting
present participle
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to install in an office, benefice, position, etc., especially with formal ceremonies.
The committee inducted her as president.
-
to introduce, especially to something requiring special knowledge or experience; initiate (usually followed by to orinto ).
They inducted him into the mystic rites of the order.
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to take (a draftee) into military service; draft.
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to bring in as a member.
to induct a person into a new profession.
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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inductsimple
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inductssimple
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have inductedperfect
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has inductedperfect
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am inductingprogressive
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are inductingprogressive
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is inductingprogressive
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have been inductingperfect progressive
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has been inductingperfect progressive
Past
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inductedsimple
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had inductedperfect
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was inductingprogressive
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were inductingprogressive
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had been inductingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of induct
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin inductus, past participle of indūcere, equivalent to induc- “to introduce, lead in” + -tus past participle suffix; see induce
Explanation
Induct is what groups do when they formally accept new members, like the honor societies that, every school year, induct students who meet the qualifications. When you induct someone into a group, you formally welcome him or her as a member. The word is typically used to describe official acceptance of a position or admittance into an organization, such as a professional society. It can also be used to describe someone who has formally enrolled in the military. Don't use it for informal joining, though — you wouldn't induct a new friend or be inducted at the gym where you have just started a membership.
Vocabulary lists containing induct
Lead the Way: Duc and Duct
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The Glass Menagerie
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"Play Ball!"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
I got to induct the first managers inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: Brian Epstein and Andrew Loog Oldham — the Beatles and the Stones.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026
The carrier was expected to induct dozens of new planes to its fleet, but deliveries are running late because of supply chain shortages, which has upended the replacement schedule.
From BBC ● May 12, 2026
I stand by all of this—until the unlikely event someone wants to induct me into a Hall of Fame, in which case I think it’s a fabulous idea, thank you.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 28, 2026
Following Browne’s spirited rendition of his 1977 hit “Running on Empty,” Springsteen took the stage to induct Mellencamp into the American Music Honors.
From Salon ● Apr. 25, 2024
The Philadelphia Inquirer once named him its high school athlete of the week, and Holy Ghost would induct him into its sports hall of fame.
From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove
The Gorsedd inducts new members each year who have contributed to Welsh life.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2024
Occasionally the Hall inducts a true rock artist, for example, Pat Benatar, but increasingly that’s a happy accident.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 13, 2022
Yet when the Baseball Hall of Fame inducts him next Sunday in Cooperstown, N.Y.,
From New York Times ● Jul. 22, 2017
It hasn’t been easy lately for coaches to get into the Hall, which inducts no more than eight people per year.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 6, 2016
Figaro playfully inducts him into the new existence.
From A Book of Operas Their Histories, Their Plots, and Their Music by Henry Edward Krehbiel
They have been amply recognized as songwriting collaborators, awarded the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song and inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026
Parton was also inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999 and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2022.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026
He was inducted into the Memphis Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2017.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2026
He was also the first rapper inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2017, as well being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2021.
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026
The girl was a little old to be inducted, but exceptions could be made.
From "The Reader" by Traci Chee
“There are few finer songwriters, male or female, that have ever lived,” said the pop singer Pink in her 2022 speech inducting Parton into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
You get a lot of people saying, “Well, they’re not rock ’n’ roll” — inducting Salt-N-Pepa, for example.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 21, 2026
Perhaps most striking of all was how many female volunteers brought along their young daughters, inducting new generations of women into anticolonial politics.
From BBC ● Nov. 29, 2025
When it came to Fogerty, Springsteen didn’t mince words while inducting one of American music’s most prolific singer-songwriters.
From Salon ● Apr. 28, 2025
I think the old lady had ideas of inducting me into a position that it had grown tacitly acknowledged I was to fill.
From The Inheritors by Joseph Conrad
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