If you hold a bar magnet near or in contact with a soft iron nail as shown in figure, the nail becomes a magnet by induction.
The nail retains its magnetism only as long as the magnet is held near it or in contact with it. It will even pick up several other nails. But is loses its magnetism as soon as the magnet is removed. Magnetism produced in this manner due to the presence of a magnet is called induced magnetism. During magnetic induction, nearer end of the magnetic substance has opposite polarity and farther end has a similar polarity.
