induction

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English induction, from Old French induction, from Latin inductiō, from indūcō (“I lead”). By surface analysis, induct + -ion or induce + -tion.

noun

1. An act of inducting.
   1. A formal ceremony in which a person is appointed to an office or into military service.
   2. The process of showing a newcomer around a place where they will work or study.
2. An act of inducing.
   1. (physics) Generation of an electric current by a varying magnetic field.
   2. (logic) Derivation of general principles from specific instances.
   3. (mathematics) A method of proof of a theorem by first proving it for a specific case (often an integer; usually 0 or 1) and showing that, if it is true for one case then it must be true for the next.
   4. (theater) Use of rumors to twist and complicate the plot of a play or to narrate in a way that does not have to state truth nor fact within the play.
   5. (embryology) Given a group of cells that emits or displays a substance, the influence of this substance on the fate of a second group of cells
   6. (mechanical engineering) The delivery of air to the cylinders of an internal combustion piston engine.
3. (medicine) The process of inducing the birth process.
4. (obsolete) An introduction.
   This is but an induction: I'lldraw / The curtains of the tragedy hereafter. 1619, Philip Massinger, Nathan Field, The Fatal Dowry