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Derivation   /dˌɛrəvˈeɪʃən/   Listen
Derivation

noun
1.
The source or origin from which something derives (i.e. comes or issues).  "Music of Turkish derivation"
2.
(historical linguistics) an explanation of the historical origins of a word or phrase.  Synonyms: deriving, etymologizing.
3.
A line of reasoning that shows how a conclusion follows logically from accepted propositions.
4.
(descriptive linguistics) the process whereby new words are formed from existing words or bases by affixation.
5.
Inherited properties shared with others of your bloodline.  Synonyms: ancestry, filiation, lineage.
6.
Drawing of fluid or inflammation away from a diseased part of the body.
7.
Drawing off water from its main channel as for irrigation.
8.
The act of deriving something or obtaining something from a source or origin.






WordNet 3.0 © 2010 Princeton University








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"Derivation" Quotes from Famous Books



... words which carry a forcible expression in one language, appear ridiculous enough in another, till the true derivation is known. Another reflection too occurs as curious; that after the overthrow of all business, all knowledge, and all pleasure resulting from either, by the Goths, Italy should be the first to cherish and revive those money-getting occupations, which now thrive better in more Northern climates: ...
— Observations and Reflections Made in the Course of a Journey through France, Italy, and Germany, Vol. I • Hester Lynch Piozzi

... Russell and Bullen, obsessed by so ancient a tradition, should accept uncritically the landsman's spelling. But educated sailors devoid of 'literary' pretensions have always written the word as it was pronounced. To my mind the strongest argument against the literary landsman's derivation of the word is that the British sailor cultivated the supremest contempt for everything French, and would be the last person to label such a definitely British practice as shanty-singing with a French title. If there had been such a thing in French ships as a labour-song bearing ...
— The Shanty Book, Part I, Sailor Shanties • Richard Runciman Terry

... not a Darwinian: the derivation of our bodies from the bodies of apes is a conception too grossly materialistic for him. Our souls, however, he is quite willing to derive from the souls of lower animals. Obviously we have pre-existed; how are we to account for Mozart's precocity ...
— The Unseen World and Other Essays • John Fiske

... particularly pointed out. In the present consideration the peculiarities of detail and ornament are all that need be taken up, as the views given furnish no opportunity for the study of plan or general design. The derivation of the Byzantine style was indicated in the March number of THE BROCHURE SERIES in describing the ...
— The Brochure Series of Architectural Illustration, Volume 01, No. 04, April 1895 - Byzantine-Romanesque Windows in Southern Italy • Various

... coming, by the right or left, as one should say "starboard helm" or "port helm," and both doing the same, two vessels pass clear of one another; and to this day the gondoliers of Venice use the old words, and tell long-winded stories of their derivation and first meaning, which seem quite unnecessary. But in Beroviero's time, the gondola had only lately come into fashion, and every one adopted it quickly because it was much cheaper than keeping horses, and it was far more ...
— Marietta - A Maid of Venice • F. Marion Crawford


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