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Origin and history of subduction

subduction(n.)

early 15c., subducioun, "withdrawal, removal, action of taking away" (originally of noxious substances from the body), from Latin subductionem (nominative subductio) "a withdrawal, drawing up, hauling ashore," noun of action from past-participle stem of subducere "to draw away, take away" (see subduce).

From 1660s as "act of subduing; fact of being subdued." The geological sense, in reference to the edge of a plate dipping under a neighboring plate, is attested by 1970, from French (1951).

Entries linking to subduction

mid-15c., subducen, "delete;" 1540s, "withdraw oneself" (from a place, allegiance, etc.), from Latin subducere "draw away, withdraw, remove," from sub "under, below" (see sub-) + ducere "to lead" (from PIE root *deuk- "to lead"). Related: Subduced; subducing.

1570s, "subtract," from Latin subductus, past participle of subducere "to draw away, take away" (see subduce). Geological sense is from 1971, of a plate, "to move under another," a back-formation from subduction. Related: Subducted; subducting.

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