deductio

Forms

dēductiō f (genitive dēductiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin dēdūcō (“to lead away, bring down”) + -tiō.^[2][1][3] dēdūcō is a compound of dē (“down from”) and dūcō (“to lead”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *douk-e- and Proto-Indo-European *deuk-e/o- (“to draw”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it first in Cicero.^[3][5] He uses it of the draining off of the Alban water by the ancestors, and of the settling of colonists.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Its senses follow those of the verb.^[6] It is a carrying to a destination, as Vitruvius' transport of architraves, and a drawing off of water.^[2] It is the planting of a colony, and Cicero also uses it of billeting troops on towns.^[2] In Roman law it is the escorting of a bride into her husband's house, and also the formal act of ejecting a rival claimant from land, which Cicero describes.^[2] In accounts it is a deduction from a sum, and in rhetoric dēductiō ratiōnis is the narrowing of an argument to the point at issue.^[2] Church Latin uses it of deduction and argument.^[7] In medieval Latin it is accompanying someone, and also amusement.^[8] English deduction came from it in the 15th century, partly through French.^[9]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero, of drawing off water, founding colonies and deductions from sums.^[2][3][5]
• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius, of transporting architraves.^[2][5]
• Medieval Latin – Accompanying someone; amusement.^[8]
• early 15th century – English deduction, partly through French.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A leading or carrying away; transport, delivery; a drawing off of water.^[2][6][1]
2. The settling of colonists; the billeting of troops.^[2][6]
3. (law) The escorting of a bride to her husband's house; the formal ejection of a rival claimant to land.^[2]
4. Subtraction, a deduction from a sum.^[2][1]
5. (rhetoric) The narrowing of an argument to the point at issue.^[2]
6. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Deduction, argument.^[7]
7. (Medieval Latin) Accompanying someone; amusement.^[8]

Related words

• dēdūcō
• dūcō
• ductus
• English deduction

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com