derive
verbCA, US, UK /dɪˈɹaɪv/ · AU /dɪˈɹɑev/
Etymology From Middle English deriven, from Old French deriver, from Latin dērīvō (“to lead, turn, or draw off (a liquid), draw off, derive”), from dē (“away”) + rīvus (“a stream”); see rival. Unrelated to arrive.
7 senses
- 1To obtain or receive (something) from something else.
- 2To deduce (a conclusion) by reasoning.
- 3To find the derivation of (a word or phrase).
- 4To create (a compound) from another by means of a reaction.
- 5To originate or stem (from).
- 6To turn the course of (water, etc.); to divert and…
- 7To differentiate (a function).
To obtain or receive (something) from something else.
- Reading books is the best way to derive knowledge.
- Bob the aforesaid, and his present chances of deriving a competent independence from the honourable profession to which he had devoted himself.1836 March – 1837 October, Charles Dickens, “Relates How Mr. Pickwick, with the Assistance of Samuel Weller, Essayed to Soften the Heart of Mr. Benjamin Allen, and to Mollify the Wrath of Mr. Robert Sawyer”, in The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1837, →OCLC, page 508:
2 more examples
- Power is derived from a British United Traction Limited "A"-type 150-h.p. six-cylinder horizontal diesel engine; this drives through a fluid flywheel, and thence through a free wheel unit to a four-speed epicyclic gearbox.1958 April 23, “Diesel Railbus for British Railways”, in Railway Magazine, page 275:
- Some poems, echoing the purpose of early poetic treatises on scientific principles, attempt to elucidate the mathematical concepts that underlie prime numbers. Others play with primes’ cultural associations. Still others derive their structure from mathematical patterns involving primes.2013 July-August, Sarah Glaz, “Ode to Prime Numbers”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 4:
Human sciences, Logic, Mathematics, Philosophy, Sciences To deduce (a conclusion) by reasoning.
Human sciences, Linguistics, Sciences To find the derivation of (a word or phrase).
Chemistry, Natural sciences, Physical sciences To create (a compound) from another by means of a reaction.
To originate or stem (from).
- Her excellent organisation skills derive from her time as a secretary in the army.
- Britannia's firebox would appear to have derived from those of the Bulleid Pacifics, which it closely resembles.1951 April, Stirling Everard, “A Matter of Pedigree”, in Railway Magazine, number 600, page 273:
2 more examples
- Today, popularity is typically a multialgorithmic measure. At Flickr, a photo's interestingness derives from views, comments, notes, bookmarks, favorites...2010, Peter Morville, Jeffery Callender, Search Patterns: Design for Discovery:
- As in much of biology, the most satisfying truths in ecology derive from manipulative experimentation. Tinker with nature and quantify how it responds.2012 January 23, Robert M. Pringle, “How to Be Manipulative”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 1, page 31:
To turn the course of (water, etc.); to divert and distribute into subordinate channels.
- For fear it [water] choke up the pits […] they [the workman] deriue it by other drains.Book 33
Mathematics, Sciences Proscribed To differentiate (a function).
- Derived terms
- derivability, derivable, derival, derivate, derivation, derivative, derivement, misderive, rederivable, rederive, zero derive