What does "induce" mean?

1. (to persuade or influence) to persuade or influence someone to do something. 2. (to cause or bring about) to cause a particular physical or mental state to happen. 3. (to start medical labour) to use medicine or other methods to start the process of giving birth. 4. (physics/electricity) to create an electric current or magnetic field using a nearby magnet or wire. 5. (logical reasoning) to reach a general conclusion by looking at specific facts.

induce

US //ˌɪnˈdus// UK //ɪndjˈuːs// in·duce

1 to persuade or influence (v.)
C1 Advanced Formal

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.

Example

Nothing could induce him to leave his home in the countryside.

Example

The promise of a significant promotion was not enough to induce the lead engineer to relocate to the overseas branch.
- deter
- discourage
2 to cause or bring about (v.)
C1 Advanced Academic

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.

Example

The medication can induce a feeling of sleepiness in some patients.

Example

High levels of stress can induce physiological changes that negatively impact long-term cardiovascular health.
- cause
- produce
- engender
- prevent
- stop

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3 to start medical labour (v.)
C1 Advanced Technical Medicine

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.

Example

The doctors decided to induce her because the baby was two weeks late.

Example

Medical guidelines suggest that doctors should only induce labour when the risks of continuing the pregnancy outweigh the risks of early delivery.
- stimulate
4 physics/electricity (v.)
C2 Proficiency Technical Science

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.

Example

Moving a magnet near a wire can induce an electric current.

Example

The primary coil is designed to induce a high-voltage current in the secondary winding through electromagnetic induction.
- generate
5 logical reasoning (v.)
C2 Proficiency Academic Technical Math

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.

Example

Scientists induce general laws of nature by observing many different experiments.

Example

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.
- infer
- generalise
- deduce

Origin

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.