deduction
deduction Lexical Profile
deduction Game Scores & Validity
• noun
The act or process of subtracting an amount or part from a total, or the specific sum that has been subtracted (especially from gross income, wages, or taxable earnings).
"Charitable donations to registered nonprofits often qualify as a tax deduction at the end of the fiscal year."
The process of reasoning from one or more general premises or known facts to reach a logically certain, specific conclusion; a conclusion reached by this method.
"By a process of careful deduction, the investigator determined how the priceless manuscript had been removed from the locked vault."
Word Nuance & Usage
In logic and philosophy, deduction (reasoning from general principles to a specific, guaranteed conclusion) is frequently contrasted with induction (deriving general principles from specific observations) and abduction (inferring the most likely explanation from incomplete evidence).
• Rhymes for deduction
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the early 15th century from Old French deduction or directly from Latin deductio ('a leading away, subtraction, or logical inference'), from deducere ('to lead down or away'), formed from de- ('down, away') and ducere ('to lead').