Link Centre Dictionary

derivation

de·ri·va·tion

UK/ˌdɛ.ɹɪˈveɪ.ʃ(ə)n/ US/ˌdɛrʌˈveɪʃʌn/ fairly common

noun

1.

the source from which something derives (i.e. comes or issues)

  • “he prefers shoes of Italian derivation”
2.

(historical linguistics) an explanation of the historical origins of a word or phrase

Synonyms
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: `singer'' from `sing''

  • “undo”
  • “do”
5.

inherited properties shared with others of your bloodline

Synonyms
6.
7.

drawing off water from its main channel as for irrigation

Origin

From Middle English derivacioun, borrowed from Middle French dérivation, from Latin dērīvātiō, dērīvātiōnem. Morphologically derive + -ation.

Phrases

  • derivation tree
  • zero derivation

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.