deduce
Americanverb (used with object)
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deduces,
present (3rd person singular)
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deduced,
past participle, past
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deducing
present participle
verb
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(may take a clause as object) to reach (a conclusion about something) by reasoning; conclude (that); infer
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archaic to trace the origin, course, or derivation of
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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deducibilitynoun
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deduciblenessnoun
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deducibleadjective
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nondeducibleadjective
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subdeducibleadjective
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undeducedadjective
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undeducibleadjective
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deduciblyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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deducesimple
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deducessimple
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have deducedperfect
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has deducedperfect
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am deducingprogressive
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are deducingprogressive
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is deducingprogressive
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have been deducingperfect progressive
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has been deducingperfect progressive
Past
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deducedsimple
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had deducedperfect
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was deducingprogressive
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were deducingprogressive
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had been deducingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of deduce
First recorded in 1520–30; from Latin dēdūcere “to lead down, derive,” from dē- de- + dūcere “to lead”
Explanation
To deduce is to figure something out based on what you already know. When you see a person crying, it's easy to deduce that the person is sad. Unless they're happy, of course. Sometimes happy people cry. Derived from the Latin ducere, meaning "to lead," a person who deduces something is "leading" their mind from one idea to the next. Deduction is a noun from the verb deduce: it's what we call something that we learn when we deduce. Sherlock Holmes, the famous investigator created by Arthur Conan Doyle, was a master of deduction. He could deduce from a few small clues all of the facts of a murder case.
Vocabulary lists containing deduce
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Lead the Way: Duc and Duct
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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:
Those who trust these writers’ capabilities with using comic book properties as springboards to examine thornier issues can probably deduce that “Lanterns” is employing it for a specific reason.
From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026
As we deduce from the phone calls Maxine makes back home, she’s also going through an acrimonious divorce and has trouble connecting with her blasé teenage daughter.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026
This gives scientists a brief chance to measure how the more stable elements decay, then deduce the properties of the original particle.
From Barron's ● Mar. 17, 2026
As one might deduce, “Young Sherlock” is fun enough, though for reasons visual rather than strictly narrative.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 3, 2026
Hence a linguist would immediately deduce correctly that the English language arose in coastal northwestern Europe and spread around the world from there.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
But Igor isn’t just adept at sniffing out truffles — he quickly deduces that she’s emotionally lost.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 14, 2025
Then, with what it deduces about an individual's personality, the AI overlays that on top of what advertisers already know about people.
From BBC ● Nov. 13, 2025
But Bron is also, as Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc eventually deduces, an idiot.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 7, 2023
This kind of wearable device uses green light to detect blood flow beneath your skin and deduces your heart rate.
From Salon ● Dec. 31, 2022
Because he saw that Major Rathbone’s wounds were caused by a knife, and because he hadn’t heard any gunshots during the performance, Leale deduces that Lincoln was stabbed.
From "Lincoln's Last Days: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever" by Bill O'Reilly
“Agatha Christie’s Tommy & Tuppence,” on BritBox starting Wednesday, is “based on the stories and characters of Agatha Christie,” which the detectives among you have deduced has something to do with … Agatha Christie.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026
After scouring job postings online and talking with local ranchers, he’s deduced that the land might soon be transformed into one of the many large-scale data centers moving into Montana over the past year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 2026
Barclays deduced that the prediction markets with the most liquidity were able to provide valuable insights that can be compared to other available data.
From MarketWatch ● May 1, 2026
From this, they deduced that DNA must have a three-dimensional, double-helix structure - like a twisted ladder with rungs formed of alternating salt and phosphate groups.
From BBC ● Nov. 7, 2025
Scholars deduced that the Sungir mammoth-hunters lived in a hierarchical society, and that the dead man was perhaps the leader of a band or of an entire tribe comprising several bands.
From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari
These include age verification tools such as facial age estimation, which must be "robust" in deducing whether a user is over 18.
From BBC ● Nov. 20, 2025
He soon reemerged, correctly deducing that there will always be starry-eyed sports fans willing to overlook pervasive failings.
From Slate ● May 29, 2024
The IRS doesn’t track the race or ethnicity of taxpayers, but researchers used a methodology of deducing race by name and geography.
From Washington Times ● May 15, 2023
“It’s like deducing the properties of unobserved dark matter by looking at its gravitational effects.”
From Science Magazine ● Jul. 20, 2022
Am I right in deducing that these charges were incurred by you?
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
