1580s, of imitative origin (cf. Dutch and East Frisian klikken to click; Old French clique tick of a clock). The figurative sense, in reference usually to persons, hit it off at once, become friendly upon meeting is from 1915, perhaps based on the sound of a key in a lock. Related: Clicked; clicking.
verb (used with object), induced, inducing. 1. to lead or move by persuasion or influence, as to some action or state of mind: to induce a person to buy a raffle ticket. 2. to bring about, produce, or cause: That medicine will induce sleep.
In medical and other technical fields, and in mainstream reportage of medical and other such topics, the participle induced is particularly often found as the latter half of a compound functioning as an adjective, the first half of the compound being either an agent (identifying a person or thing that is inducing) or an instrument (identifying a thing that is used to induce); hence drug-induced, panic-induced, radiation-induced, and so on.