backward induction

noun

The process of reasoning backwards in time, from the end of a problem or situation, to determine a sequence of optimal actions.

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Meanings

nounbackward induction (usually uncountable, plural backward inductions)

plural backward inductions

  1. uncountableusuallycomputingThe process of reasoning backwards in time, from the end of a problem or situation, to determine a sequence of optimal actions.

    Simple game theory tells us that a process of backward induction should, really, at some point, induce the smart money to get out. And were that to happen, investors really should be prepared to lose everything.

    2021 December 14, Richard Partington, quoting Thomas Belsham, “Bitcoin could become ‘worthless’, Bank of England warns”, in The Guardian
Cite this entry
APA

backward induction. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/backward%20induction

MLA

“backward induction.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/backward%20induction. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “backward induction,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/backward%20induction.

Source: backward induction on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.