DERIVATION • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Derivation

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/dˌɛrəvˈeɪʃən/ Listen

noun

Derivation n.

1.

A leading or drawing off of water from a stream or source. (Obs.)

2.

The act of receiving anything from a source; the act of procuring an effect from a cause, means, or condition, as profits from capital, conclusions or opinions from evidence. "As touching traditional communication,... I do not doubt but many of those truths have had the help of that derivation."

3.

The act of tracing origin or descent, as in grammar or genealogy; as, the derivation of a word from an Aryan root.

4.

The state or method of being derived; the relation of origin when established or asserted.

5.

That from which a thing is derived.

6.

That which is derived; a derivative; a deduction. "From the Euphrates into an artificial derivation of that river."

7.

(Math.) The operation of deducing one function from another according to some fixed law, called the law of derivation, as the operation of differentiation or of integration.

8.

(Med.) A drawing of humors or fluids from one part of the body to another, to relieve or lessen a morbid process.

9.

The formation of a word from its more original or radical elements; also, a statement of the origin and history of a word.

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Etymology of 'Derivation'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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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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