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se·duce (sĭ-ds, -dys)
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tr.v. se·duced, se·duc·ing, se·duc·es
1. To attract or lead (someone) away from proper behavior or thinking: "He had been in this way seduced from the wisdom of his cooler judgment" (Anthony Trollope). See Synonyms at lure.
2. To induce (someone) to engage in sexual activity, as by flirting or persuasion.
3. To entice into a different state or position: "Journalism may seduce [a writer-professor] from the campus" (Irwin Erdman).
[Middle English seduisen, from Old French seduire, seduis-, alteration (influenced by Medieval Latin sēdūcere, to lead astray) of suduire, to seduce, from Latin subdūcere, to withdraw : sub-, sub- + dūcere, to lead; see deuk- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]
se·ducea·ble, se·duci·ble adj.
se·ducer n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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