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, əˈdʌkʃən /

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

The rhetorical challenge is to adduce a unity—akin to herding cats—among a multitude of self-centered interests and causes.

From The New Yorker ● May 20, 2019

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

And there were few whose relationship with jazz was as meaningful; you can adduce clear relationships between his written and oral phrasing and the playing of John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Max Roach and Albert Ayler.

From New York Times ● Jan. 17, 2014

There are in the score innumerable passages which one is tempted to adduce as particular instances of ideally fit and beautiful expression.

From Aspects of Modern Opera Estimates and Inquiries by Gilman, Lawrence

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

Writing in the show’s catalogue, the critic and curator Russell Ferguson adduces Mediterranean history in Italian literature for the former and Plato’s cave for the latter.

From The New Yorker ● May 6, 2019

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

From New York Times ● Dec. 2, 2017

For instance, what are the arguments he adduces to prove that in two similar diseases the strongest will overcome the weakest?

From Curiosities of Medical Experience by Millingen, J. G. (John Gideon)

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

The Russians sneered, “The embassy does not feel called upon to furnish any proof in addition to that already adduced before the commissioner.”

From Washington Post ● Aug. 13, 2022

Other examples could be adduced, but I don’t have an extra 20,000 words to spare.

From Salon ● Oct. 20, 2019

In his version of Book I of On the Revolutions the arguments that could be adduced against the movement of the Earth are given a more prominent position.

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

But such ways of adducing Holy Scripture, we suspect, are not by any means what is meant by 'Accommodation;' and they do not certainly correspond with the notion which the term is calculated to convey.

From Inspiration and Interpretation Seven Sermons Preached Before the University of Oxford by Burgon, John William