Induction

How to spell induction

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce induction

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does induction mean?

1. nounThe formal process of introducing someone to a new job, organisation, or role.
2. nounThe production of an electric current or magnetism in a body by the proximity of an electric or magnetic field, without direct contact.
3. nounA method of reasoning that draws a general conclusion from particular observations or examples.
4. nounThe medical process of artificially starting labour or anaesthesia.

Induction in a sentence

• Every new employee attends a half-day induction before starting on the floor.

• The transformer relies on electromagnetic induction to step the voltage down.

• By induction, the researcher inferred a broad pattern from hundreds of individual cases.

• The midwife discussed induction of labour because the baby was overdue.

• The company induction covered safety rules, payroll, and the staff handbook.

• Our new hob heats the pan by magnetic induction rather than an open flame.

Where does induction come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin inducere, which literally meant 'to lead in' or 'to bring in', formed from the prefix in- ('into') and the verb ducere ('to lead'). The past participle inductus produced the noun inductio, used by Roman writers, including Cicero, to translate a Greek term for a particular style of argument that builds a general conclusion from individual cases. English borrowed the word from Latin, partly by way of Old French, during the late fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, first in the logical sense and soon afterwards for the formal act of installing someone into an office. The same ducere root, meaning 'to lead', sits inside a large family of English words such as conduct, produce, reduce, and duct itself, which is a handy reminder that the spelling keeps the 'duct' chunk intact. Later scientific use, including Michael Faraday's nineteenth-century work on electromagnetic induction, simply extended the old idea of something being 'led in' or brought about by another influence.

How the word is built

• in- (in, into)
• duct (from Latin ducere: to lead)
• -ion (noun of action)