Deduction

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /dɪˈdʌkʃən/

Definitions

1. The process of reaching a logical conclusion by reasoning from general principles to specific instances, or an amount subtracted from a total
2. The reasoning process that involves drawing conclusions based on premises, alongside the act of subtracting an amount from a financial total
3. The method of reasoning where specific conclusions are drawn from broader generalizations ; a sum taken away from a gross amount, such as wages or expenses

Etymology: The two senses of "deduction" look unrelated at first, one about logical reasoning and the other about money taken off a bill, but they share a single Latin ancestor: "deductio," a noun from the verb "deducere," meaning "to lead down or away." The Latin verb combined "de-" (down, away) with "ducere" (to lead), so the basic image is of drawing something out from a whole. English took the word through Middle French "déduction," which is why it reached us with the French-style spelling that still sits beside the Latin one. The two modern meanings grew from that same image of leading something away from a larger body. Subtracting an amount from a total is the most literal sense, taking a portion out of a sum. The logical sense follows the same movement: a conclusion is drawn out from general premises, step by step. Both meanings stand on the verb "deduct" and "deduce," which is why the noun can be read as either "-ion" added to "deduct" or "-tion" added to "deduce."

Synonyms: conclusion, inference, reasoning, derivation, extraction

Antonyms: induction, addition, inclusion, supposition, hypothesis