deduce

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*dewk-“to lead; to draw, pull”
2. Latin · derived fromdēdūcere
3. Middle English · inherited fromdeducen“to demonstrate, prove, show; to argue, infer; to bring, lead; to turn (something) to a use; to deduct”
4. English todaydeduce

From Late Middle English deducen (“to demonstrate, prove, show; to argue, infer; to bring, lead; to turn (something) to a use; to deduct”), borrowed from Latin dēdūcere, the present active infinitive of dēdūcō (“to lead or bring out or away; to accompany, conduct, escort; (figuratively) to derive, discover, deduce”); from dē- (prefix meaning ‘from, away from’) + dūcere (the present active infinitive of dūcō (“to conduct, guide, lead; to draw, pull; to consider, regard, think”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dewk- (“to lead; to draw, pull”)).

Words from the same roots