Introduce

How to spell introduce

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce introduce

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does introduce mean?

1. verbTo present someone to another person, or to bring something into use, practice, or a place for the first time.

Introduce in a sentence

• The host wanted to introduce the new manager to the whole team.

• The company plans to introduce a cheaper model next spring.

Where does introduce come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes directly from the Latin verb introducere, which meant 'to lead in' or 'to bring inside'. It is built from intro, meaning 'to the inside' or 'within', joined to ducere, meaning 'to lead', the same root that gives us 'conduct', 'produce', and 'reduce'. English adopted it in the early 1500s, at first in the sense of bringing something into use or into a place, and the social meaning of presenting one person to another developed soon afterwards. The buried 'duc' spelling is the part worth holding onto, because the unstressed middle of the word tempts writers to drop letters or guess at vowels. Knowing that the heart of the word is the Latin 'to lead' keeps the spelling steady: you literally lead a thing or a person in.

How the word is built

• intro- (to the inside, inward)
• duc (from Latin ducere: to lead)
• -e