abductive

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US/æbˈdʌk.tɪv/US/ˈæbˌdək.tɪv/

adjective

Related or pertaining to abductor muscles and their movement.

Opposite
deductive
OriginEnglish abduct ← Latin abductus ← Proto-Italic *doukō →
UncommonFirst used Mid 19ᵗʰ century.Scrabble 17
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Meanings

adjectiveabductive (not comparable)
  1. not comparableanatomyRelated or pertaining to abductor muscles and their movement.First known use Mid 19ᵗʰ century.
  2. not comparablecomputingBeing or relating to a logical process of abduction or inference.First known use Early 20ᵗʰ century.
  3. not comparablerareAbducting, pertaining to an abduction (a kidnapping).

    The logs showed that between 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. on the abductive day, 10,718 SIMs connected with the seven […] Some people in the kidnap zone would of course have called each other innocently, but […]

    2010, Steve Hendricks, A Kidnapping in Milan: The CIA on Trial, →ISBN, page 169

Synonyms & antonyms

Opposite
deductive

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ep
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₂epó
  3. Proto-Italic*ap
  4. Latinab
  5. Latinab-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*dewk-
  7. Proto-Indo-European*déwkti
  8. Proto-Italic*doukō
  9. Latindūcō
  10. Latinabdūcō
  11. Latinabductus
  12. Englishabduct
  13. Englishabductive

From abduct + -ive.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Finnish abduktiivinen
  • abduktiivinenanatomy
German abduktiv
  • abduktivlogic
Greek απαγωγικός
  • απαγωγικός (apagogikós)logic
Italian abduttore, abduttivo
  • abduttoreanatomy
  • abduttivologic
Latin abducens
  • abducensanatomy
Lithuanian atitraukiamasis
  • atitraukiamasisanatomy
Portuguese abdutivo
  • abdutivologic
Romanian abductor
  • abductoranatomy
Russian отводя́щий
  • отводя́щий (otvodjáščij)anatomy

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with abductive

productivereproductiveinductivedeductiveunproductivenonproductive
All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

abductive. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/abductive

MLA

“abductive.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/abductive. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “abductive,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/abductive.

Source: abductive on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.