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Imply vs Deduce - What's the difference?

imply | deduce |

As verbs the difference between imply and deduce

is that imply is to have as a necessary consequence while deduce is to reach a conclusion by applying rules of logic to given premises.

imply

English

Verb

(en-verb)
  • (of a proposition) to have as a necessary consequence
  • The proposition that "all dogs are mammals" implies that my dog is a mammal
  • (of a person) to suggest by logical inference
  • When I state that your dog is brown, I am not implying that all dogs are brown
  • (of a person or proposition) to hint; to insinuate; to suggest tacitly and avoid a direct statement
  • What do you mean "we need to be more careful with hygiene"? Are you implying that I don't wash my hands?
  • (archaic) to enfold, entangle.
  • * 1590 , Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene , I.iv:
  • And in his bosome secretly there lay / An hatefull Snake, the which his taile vptyes / In many folds, and mortall sting implyes .

    Usage notes

    * This is a catenative verb that takes the gerund (-ing) . See

    Synonyms

    * (to have as a necessary consequence) entail * (to suggest tacitly) allude, hint, insinuate, suggest

    See also

    * connotation * entail

    deduce

    English

    Verb

  • To reach a conclusion by applying rules of logic to given premises.
  • * Alexander Pope
  • O goddess, say, shall I deduce my rhymes / From the dire nation in its early times?
  • * John Locke
  • Reasoning is nothing but the faculty of deducing unknown truths from principles already known.
  • * Sir Walter Scott
  • See what regard will be paid to the pedigree which deduces your descent from kings and conquerors.
  • (obsolete) To take away; to deduct; to subtract.
  • to deduce a part from the whole
    (Ben Jonson)
  • (obsolete, Latinism) To lead forth.
  • * Selden
  • He should hither deduce a colony.

    Usage notes

    For example, from the premises "all good people believe in the tooth fairy" and "Jimmy does not believe in the tooth fairy", we deduce the conclusion "Jimmy is not a good person". This particular form of deduction is called a syllogism. Note that in this case we reach a false conclusion by correct deduction from a false premise.

    Antonyms

    * (reach a conclusion by applying rules of logic)

    Synonyms

    * (reach a conclusion by applying rules of logic)

    Anagrams

    * * ----