Category:Inductive

In*duct"ive, a. Etym: [LL. inductivus: cf. F. inductif. See Induce.]

1. Leading or drawing; persuasive; tempting; -- usually followed by to. A brutish vice, Inductive mainly to the sin of Eve. Milton.

2. Tending to induce or cause. [R.] They may be. . . inductive of credibility. Sir M. Hale.

3. Leading to inferences; proceeding by, derived from, or using, induction; as, inductive reasoning.

4. (Physics) (a) Operating by induction; as, an inductive electrical machine. (b) Facilitating induction; susceptible of being acted upon by induction; as certain substances have a great inductive capacity. Inductive embarrassment (Physics), the retardation in signaling on an electric wire, produced by lateral induction. -- Inductive philosophy or method. See Philosophical induction, under Induction. -- Inductive sciences, those sciences which admit of, and employ, the inductive method, as astronomy, botany, chemistry, etc.