Definitions for: Derivation


[n] drawing off water from its main channel as for irrigation
[n] drawing of fluid or inflammation away from a diseased part of the body
[n] inherited properties shared with others of your bloodline
[n] a line of reasoning that shows how a conclusion follows logically from accepted propositions
[n] (historical linguistics) an explanation of the historical origins of a word or phrase
[n] the source from which something derives (i.e. comes or issues); "he prefers shoes of Italian derivation"
[n] (descriptive linguistics) the process whereby new words are formed from existing words or bases by affixation: `singer' from `sing'; `undo' from `do'



Webster (1913) Definition: Der`i*va"tion, n. [L. derivatio: cf. F.
d['e]rivation. See Derive.]
1. A leading or drawing off of water from a stream or source.
[Obs.] --T. Burnet.

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. --Sir M. Hale.

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. --Gibbon.

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


Der`iva"tion, n.
The formation of a word from its more original or radical
elements; also, a statement of the origin and history of a
word.

Synonyms: ancestry, deriving, etymologizing, filiation, lineage

See Also: account, beginning, bloodline, breed, descent, drawing, drawing off, explanation, extraction, hereditary pattern, illation, inference, inheritance, linguistic process, origin, origin, pedigree, root, rootage, source, strain

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