induction: Meaning and Definition of

in•duc•tion

1. the act of inducing, bringing about, or causing: induction of the hypnotic state.
2. the act of inducting; introduction; initiation.
3. formal installation in an office, benefice, or the like.
1. any form of reasoning in which the conclusion, though supported by the premises, does not follow from them necessarily.
2. the process of estimating the validity of observations of part of a class of facts as evidence for a proposition about the whole class.
3. a conclusion reached by this process.
5. Also calleda method of proving a given property true for a set of numbers by proving it true for 1 and then true for an arbitrary positive integer by assuming the property true for all previous positive integers and applying the principle of mathematical induction.
6. a presentation or bringing forward, as of facts or evidence.
7. the process by which a body having electric or magnetic properties produces magnetism, an electric charge, or an electromotive force in a neighboring body without contact. Cf. electromagnetic induction, electrostatic induction.
8. the process or principle by which one part of the embryo influences the differentiation of another part.
9. the synthesis of an enzyme in response to an increased concentration of its substrate in the cell.
10. an introductory unit in literary work, esp. in an early play; prelude or scene independent of the main performance but related to it.
11. a preface.