induce
- 01 C1 Advanced
to persuade or influence someone to do something.
to prevail upon or influence a person to perform an action. Transitive; often followed by an object and a to-infinitive.
Simple“Nothing could induce him to leave his home in the countryside.”
In context“The promise of a significant promotion was not enough to induce the lead engineer to relocate to the overseas branch.”
Antonyms - 02 C1 Advanced
to cause a particular physical or mental state to happen.
to bring about or give rise to a specific condition or effect. Often used in medical or psychological contexts.
Simple“The medication can induce a feeling of sleepiness in some patients.”
In context“High levels of stress can induce physiological changes that negatively impact long-term cardiovascular health.”
- 03 C1 Advanced
to use medicine or other methods to start the process of giving birth.
to bring on the process of childbirth by artificial means. Transitive; the object is typically the mother or the labour itself.
Simple“The doctors decided to induce her because the baby was two weeks late.”
In context“Medical guidelines suggest that doctors should only induce labour when the risks of continuing the pregnancy outweigh the risks of early delivery.”
Synonyms - 04 C2 Proficiency
to create an electric current or magnetic field using a nearby magnet or wire.
to produce an electromotive force or magnetic property in a body by proximity to a magnet or a varying current.
Simple“Moving a magnet near a wire can induce an electric current.”
In context“The primary coil is designed to induce a high-voltage current in the secondary winding through electromagnetic induction.”
Synonyms - 05 C2 Proficiency
to reach a general conclusion by looking at specific facts.
to derive a general principle or law from particular instances or facts. The inverse of deduction.
Simple“Scientists induce general laws of nature by observing many different experiments.”
In context“While the detective could deduce the killer's identity from the clues, the philosopher sought to induce a broader theory of human behaviour from the same evidence.”
SynonymsAntonyms
Usage induce altered · induce by
“Roche added: "This is the first demonstration that dietary delivery of yeast beta-glucan is sufficient to induce trained immunity through reprogramming of bone marrow stem cells.”
“Revaluing the yuan would probably induce other policy changes to plug the world’s dramatic trade imbalances.”
From Middle English enducen, borrowed from Latin indūcere (“lead in, bring in, introduce”), from in + dūcō (“lead, conduct”). Compare also abduce, adduce, conduce, deduce, produce, reduce etc. Doublet of endue.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.