Word Confusion: Adduce vs Deduce vs Educe vs Induce

Posted October 29, 2015 by Kathy Davie in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

Revised as of 28 Aug 2022

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This word confusion came about through my own curiosity. I think it was all those -uces that had me rolling adduce, deduce, and induce around in my mouth. Over and over, lol. At least, that was my excuse for exploring.

Adduce cites evidence.

Deduce figures it out with reasoning.

Educe brings out or develops something latent or with potential, inferring from data.

Induce persuades or influences someone, including giving a “kickstart” to labor.

I did not expect to experience a further confusion with the difference between deduce and deduct!

You may also want to check out Deduce versus Deduct“.

Word Confusions . . .

. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.

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Adduce	Deduce	Educe	Induce
Loch Ness Monster is Ad Meskens’ own work under the CC BY-SA 3.0 or GFDL licenses, via Wikimedia Commons. — The existence of Nessie is adduced from various sightings over the centuries.	Sherlock Holmes’ Pipe and Hat by Alterego is under GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0 licenses, via Wikimedia Commons. — They’re the classic Holmes accessories before Sherlock heads out to deduce.	4 Kittens by Pieter Lanser from The Netherlands (IMG_9051) is under the CC BY 2.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons. — Such a picture of these sweet, wide-eyed kittens would educe a response from anyone.	Smithsonite by Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com is under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons. — A superb chunk of smithsonite has extra value due the unusual induced yellow color.
Part of Grammar:
Verb, transitive Third person present verb: adduces Past tense or past participle: adduced Gerund or present participle: adducing	See also “Word Confusion: Deduce versus Deduct“ Verb, transitive Third person present verb: deduces Past tense or past participle: deduced Gerund or present participle: deducing	Verb, transitive Third person present verb: educes Past tense or past participle: educed Gerund or present participle: educing	Verb, transitive Third person present verb: induces Past tense or past participle: induced Gerund or present participle: inducing
Cite as evidence	Arrive at a fact or a conclusion by reasoning Draw as a logical conclusion [Archaic] Trace the course or derivation of	[Formal] Bring out or develop something latent or potential Infer something from data	Succeed in persuading or influencing someone to do something Bring about or give rise to Produce an electric charge or current or a magnetic state by induction [Usually as an adjective, induced; Physics] Cause radioactivity by bombardment with radiation [Medicine] Bring on the birth of a baby artificially, typically by the use of drugs [Logic] Derive by inductive reasoning
Examples:
A number of factors are adduced to explain the situation. We could adduce many instances to corroborate this assertion. One would expect Lebens to adduce evidence from other cases of state sanctions. If, however, it will satisfy you that I adduce an illustration — Louisa Bellew was one of these.	Little can be safely deduced from these figures. They deduced that the fish died because of water pollution. He cannot deduce his descent wholly by heirs male. Sherlock Holmes deducted occupations by studying physical characteristics and objects they own.	Out of love, obedience is to be educed. More information can be educed from these statistics. The gift of a puppy finally educed a response from the shy boy.	The pickets induced many workers to stay away. None of these measures induced a change of policy. This growing and shrinking magnetic field can induce electrical current in another wire that is held close to the first wire. Neutron radiation induces radioactivity in body tissues. The doctors had to induce delivery when the baby began to stress. From the statistics on past events, we were able to induce a pattern to the storms.
Derivatives:
Adjective: adduceable, adducible, unadduced, unadduceable, unadducible Noun: adducer	Adjective: deducible, nondeducible, subdeducible Adverb: deducibly Noun: deducibility, deducibleness	Adjective: educible, eductive, uneduced Noun: eduction	Adjective: induced, inducible, inductive Adverb: inductively Noun: inducer, induction, inductiveness
History of the Word:
Late Middle English from the Latin adducere, which is from ad- (toward) + ducere (to lead).	Late Middle English in the sense of lead or convey and is from the Latin deducere, from de- (down) + ducere (lead).	The first known use was in 1603 and is from the Latin educere meaning lead out, from e-, a variant of ex-, (out) + ducere (to lead).	Late Middle English (formerly also as enduce): from the Latin inducere meaning lead in, from in- (into) + ducere (to lead) or from the French enduire.

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.

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