noun
abduction
Reasoning that infers the best explanation from available evidence.
The researcher uses abduction to choose the explanation that best fits the clues.
Etymology
Latin abductio means a leading away. Logic gave the word a specialized use for moving from observed facts to a possible explanation, rather than deriving a necessary conclusion.
More examples
- Abduction suggests a likely cause without proving it.
- Their reasoning relied on abduction rather than deduction.
- The seminar compared abduction with other forms of inference.
Forms
abduction