adduce

American  

[uh-doos, uh-dyoos] / əˈdus, əˈdjus /

verb (used with object)

• adduces,
  present (3rd person singular)
• adduced,
  past participle,  past
• adducing
  present participle

1. to bring forward in argument or as evidence; cite as pertinent or conclusive.

   to adduce reasons in support of a constitutional amendment.

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adduce British  

/ əˈdjuːs /

verb

1. (tr) to cite (reasons, examples, etc) as evidence or proof

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• adducer
  noun
• adduction
  noun
• adduceable
  adjective
• adducent
  adjective
• adducible
  adjective
• unadduceable
  adjective
• unadduced
  adjective
• unadducible
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• adducing
  present
• adduced
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• adduce
  simple
• adduces
  simple
• have adduced
  perfect
• has adduced
  perfect
• am adducing
  progressive
• are adducing
  progressive
• is adducing
  progressive
• have been adducing
  perfect progressive
• has been adducing
  perfect progressive

Past

• adduced
  simple
• had adduced
  perfect
• was adducing
  progressive
• were adducing
  progressive
• had been adducing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will adduce
  simple
• will have adduced
  perfect
• will be adducing
  progressive
• will have been adducing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of adduce

1610–20; < Latin addūcere to bring into, equivalent to ad- ad- + dūcere to lead

Explanation

When you adduce something, you offer proof in support of an argument. If you’re trying to prove that you didn’t eat the last cookie, you might adduce the fact that your dog’s mouth is covered in cookie crumbs. The word adduce comes from the Latin adducere, which means "to lead or bring along." If you were a lawyer, you might adduce, or bring forth, a witness in order to help your case. You might also adduce a piece of evidence, like a fact, to help with your argument. You might think of the word add to help you remember the definition of adduce: when you adduce something, you are adding to an argument by offering proof.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

adduce adduces adduced adducing

They can neither attack nor defend, adduce facts or employ logic.

From Salon ● Jul. 29, 2019

Writers in the show’s handsome brochure are at pains to adduce a present-day relevance for Red Decade art.

From The New Yorker ● Jan. 19, 2015

Commentators are already attempting to adduce the reasons for the decline in obesity in this age, pointing to the dietary changes in preschool menus, awareness campaigns, and exercise programs that specifically target tots.

From Slate ● Feb. 28, 2014

You can adduce all kinds of comedy and critical distance to Ms. Cyrus’s public pose, but there’s an earnestness in it, too, an almost boring will to transgress.

From New York Times ● Dec. 15, 2013

It would not be easy to adduce a stronger case of this character.

From The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 10 (of 12) Dresden Edition?Legal by Robert Green Ingersoll

Ms. Rosenwein adduces all the figures in the Old Testament who were said to have lived to fantastic ages.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 9, 2026

But back to your observation: when a student adduces a YouTube video, in terms of professorial ethics, how do you respond?

From Salon ● Nov. 15, 2022

First, Perez redeems the very notion of melodrama from its pejorative uses; then he adduces its mode of “exaggeration” to the historical underpinnings and enduring core of the cinema.

From The New Yorker ● Jan. 17, 2020

In this column Ross fails to connect the dots he adduces.

From New York Times ● Dec. 2, 2017

Dee mentions that, in the copy from which he wrote, the book was ascribed to Machomet of Bagdad, and adduces two or three reasons for thinking it to be Euclid’s.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 8 "Ethiopia" to "Evangelical Association" by Various

Ultimately, the huge numbers adduced to support this and other assertions throughout the book seem intended to shock rather than to support serious causal argumentation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 14, 2025

Later appraisals adduced that the enigmatic piece was an apron, a garment or a military banner, before analysts in 20th century Vienna agreed: It was a headdress.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 24, 2025

He wanted a sort of mathematical calculation that could help us determine whether a sentence was true or false based on the evidence adduced for it.

From Salon ● Jul. 29, 2024

Amanda Hardy, an attorney representing Jinks, issued a statement saying they respect the decision but “believe the judgement was inconsistent with the evidence adduced at trial.”

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 25, 2022

In Rome the advocatus diaboli, or devil’s advocate, had been established as early as 1587 to test the evidence adduced in support of the miracles claimed for those proposed for canonization.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

At one point, Avenatti reportedly tried to cast doubt over his former client's trustworthiness by adducing Daniel's belief in the paranormal.

From Salon ● Jun. 2, 2022

As Reynolds points out, in the story Dupin dismisses mathematics as a means of adducing abstract truths about morals or human motivation.

From New York Times ● Sep. 29, 2020

Cohn sorted the Republicans into three buckets, adducing historical antecedents for each.

From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2015

But scores of auditors were sidling through the exits before the Nominee finished adducing details to prove his point.

From Time Magazine Archive

After adducing reasons for the non-association of criminal lunatics with ordinary patients, Lord Shaftesbury insisted that the most efficient remedy was a State asylum; and that this was confirmed by the success of Dundrum, Ireland.

From Chapters in the History of the Insane in the British Isles by Daniel Hack Tuke