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
-
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 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
In the end, both Oasis and Carey were overlooked last year - with voters choosing to induct Cher, Mary J Blige, Ozzy Osbourne and A Tribe Called Quest instead.
From BBC ● Feb. 12, 2025
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
Born in 1950 to a lower-caste family, his first exposure to the RSS was through shakhas — local units — that induct boys by combining religious education with self-defense skills and games.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 17, 2024
No patrollers, no bosses, no cries of anguish to induct her into another’s despair.
From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead
The Gorsedd inducts new members each year who have contributed to Welsh life.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2024
The Country Music Hall of Fame inducts a songwriter every third year alongside the artist inductions.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 3, 2023
Jackson Browne inducts singer-songwriter Shawn Colvin; blues legend Buddy Guy is inducted by old friend and fellow blues icon Jimmie Vaughan, and Sean Penn inducts Lyle Lovett.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 27, 2019
After a trip upward in a glass elevator, a team leader inducts the kids into the Exceptional Explorers Society.
From New York Times ● Aug. 1, 2019
Lighting a small lantern he leads the way across a stone-paved yard, and, opening one leaf of the folding-doors of a stable at its upper end, inducts me at once into the interior.
From A Tramp's Wallet stored by an English goldsmith during his wanderings in Germany and France by William Duthie
Mike Ditka, the first ever tight end to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame and coach of the legendary 1985 Chicago Bears, has died.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026
The following month, the two appeared at the annual Medallion Ceremony, where the Judds were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, and the sisters spoke on behalf of their mother.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
Open and inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
Boston was among the first players inducted into the Rugby League Hall of Fame in 1988 and is one of five rugby league players to be included in a statue at Wembley Stadium.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
“Every drüskelle in history has been inducted into the order through the same ceremony since Djel anointed the first of us.”
From "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo
“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
"We've added over 100 aircraft, nearly completed the refit of legacy narrowbodies, and begun inducting widebodies with new interiors. At the same time, we've laid critical infrastructure... to support our long-term ambitions," he said.
From BBC ● Apr. 7, 2026
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
Dave Meador recognized that the rules for inducting older players stack the odds against them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 6, 2023
After inducting him into a pair of white leggings and bronze shoes, Mesrour clapped upon his head a large white turban ornamented with a black aigret.
From The Strange Adventures of Mr. Middleton by Wardon Allan Curtis
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.
