In*duct"ive (?), a. [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. -- Inductivephilosophy or method. See Philosophical induction, under Induction. -- Inductive sciences, those sciences which admit of, and employ, the inductive method, as astronomy, botany, chemistry, etc.