Meanings
nounabductive reasoning (uncountable)
- uncountableDetermining plausibility based on a set of evidence.
Synonyms: abduction, inference to the best explanation
Synonyms & antonyms
nounDetermining plausibility based on a set of evidence.
Origin
From a now rare sense of abduction; compare the relationship of deduction to deductive reasoning.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 溯因推理, 溯因法
- 溯因推理Translations
- 溯因法Translations
Finnish abduktio, abduktiivinen päättely
- abduktioTranslations
- abduktiivinen päättelyTranslations
- päättely parhaaseen selitykseenTranslations
German Abduktion, Schlussfolgerung
- AbduktionTranslations
- SchlussfolgerungTranslations
- ImplikationTranslations
Japanese アブダクション, 逆推論
- アブダクション (abudakushon)Translations
- 逆推論 (gyakusuiron)Translations
Polish rozumowanie abdukcyjne
- rozumowanie abdukcyjneTranslations
Cite this entry
APA
abductive reasoning. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/abductive%20reasoning
MLA
“abductive reasoning.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/abductive%20reasoning. Accessed November 5, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “abductive reasoning,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/abductive%20reasoning.
Source: abductive reasoning on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.