Dictionary

derive en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /dɪˈɹɑev/ (Australia)
• [dəˈɹɑe̯v] (New-Zealand)
• /dɪˈɹaɪv/ (Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation)
• (California) audio

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.

Meanings

1. (transitive) 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:
   • 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 14, “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:
2. (transitive) To deduce (a conclusion) by reasoning.
3. (transitive) To find the derivation of (a word or phrase).
4. (transitive) To create (a compound) from another by means of a reaction.
5. (intransitive) To originate or stem (from).
   • 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:
   • Her excellent organisation skills derive from her time as a secretary in the army.
   • 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 14, Robert M. Pringle, “How to Be Manipulative”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 1, page 31:
   • 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:
6. 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
7. (proscribed, transitive) To differentiate (a function).

Forms

Deriveds

derivement · derivative · derivability · zero derive · derivation · rederivable · rederive · misderive · derivable · derival · derivate

Translations (112)

ru происходи́ть (originate (from)) · de kommen von (originate (from)) · hy սերել (originate (from)) · tr elde etmek (deduce (a conclusion) by reasoning) · nl afleiden (deduce (a conclusion) by reasoning) · es derivar (create (a compound) from another by means of a reaction) · ar استمد (obtain (something) from something else) · da udlede (find the derivation of (a word or phrase)) · de abstammen (originate (from)) · de erlangen (obtain (something) from something else) · fi päätellä (deduce (a conclusion) by reasoning) · fa آریکدن (deduce (a conclusion) by reasoning) · pt derivar (find the derivation of (a word or phrase)) · la ab orior (originate (from)) · ca derivar (obtain (something) from something else) · la mano ex (originate (from)) · nl ontstaan (originate (from)) · hy հանգել (deduce (a conclusion) by reasoning) · bg добивам (obtain (something) from something else) · grc λαμβάνω ἐκ (obtain (something) from something else) · pt derivar (create (a compound) from another by means of a reaction) · ar استنتج (deduce (a conclusion) by reasoning) · fy ôfliede (find the derivation of (a word or phrase)) · ro deriva (obtain (something) from something else) · de herleiten (find the derivation of (a word or phrase)) · la orior (obtain (something) from something else) · la fluo (originate (from)) · la e ducor (originate (from)) · da udlede (deduce (a conclusion) by reasoning) · fi johtaa (deduce (a conclusion) by reasoning) · cs získat (obtain (something) from something else) · mi take (originate (from)) · it derivare (create (a compound) from another by means of a reaction) · bg добивам (create (a compound) from another by means of a reaction) · de ableiten (find the derivation of (a word or phrase)) · fy ôfliede (deduce (a conclusion) by reasoning) · pt derivar (obtain (something) from something else) · et tuletama (obtain (something) from something else) · mi pūtake (originate (from)) · la fluere (obtain (something) from something else) · es derivar (originate (from)) · fi juontua (originate (from)) · fr conclure (deduce (a conclusion) by reasoning) · tr sağlamak (obtain (something) from something else) · fi johtaa (find the derivation of (a word or phrase)) · fi johtaa (create (a compound) from another by means of a reaction) · fy ôfstamje (originate (from)) · hy բխեցնել (deduce (a conclusion) by reasoning) · la a ducor (originate (from)) · pt derivar (originate (from)) · hu nyer (obtain (something) from something else) · ca derivar (create (a compound) from another by means of a reaction) · hy առաջանալ (originate (from)) · nb avlede (obtain (something) from something else) · ca derivar (originate (from)) · la orior ex (originate (from)) · hy պարզել ծագումը (find the derivation of (a word or phrase)) · sv uppnå (obtain (something) from something else) · bg произхождам (originate (from)) · sv härleda (deduce (a conclusion) by reasoning) · fr tirer (obtain (something) from something else) · fi johtaa (obtain (something) from something else) · la proficīscor (create (a compound) from another by means of a reaction) · pt deduzir (deduce (a conclusion) by reasoning) · fr déduire (deduce (a conclusion) by reasoning) · de ableiten (deduce (a conclusion) by reasoning) · eo deveni (originate (from)) · hy սկիզբ առնել (originate (from)) · tr türetmek (obtain (something) from something else) · da udlede (create (a compound) from another by means of a reaction) · el προέρχομαι (originate (from)) · bg извличам (deduce (a conclusion) by reasoning) · fa آریکدن (obtain (something) from something else) · la ex ducor (originate (from)) · tr türetmek (find the derivation of (a word or phrase)) · hu eredeztet (deduce (a conclusion) by reasoning) · bg че́рпя (obtain (something) from something else) · la gigno (find the derivation of (a word or phrase)) · es derivar (obtain (something) from something else) · fr dériver (create (a compound) from another by means of a reaction) · hy ստանալ (create (a compound) from another by means of a reaction) · it derivare (find the derivation of (a word or phrase)) · nl afleiden (obtain (something) from something else) · hu származik (originate (from)) · et tuletama (deduce (a conclusion) by reasoning) · la origo proficīscor (create (a compound) from another by means of a reaction) · de ableiten (create (a compound) from another by means of a reaction) · ru произойти́ (originate (from)) · hy ծագել (originate (from)) · hy եզրակացնել (deduce (a conclusion) by reasoning) · nl afleiden (create (a compound) from another by means of a reaction) · sv avleda (obtain (something) from something else) · la a mano (originate (from)) · izh veittää (obtain (something) from something else) · nl deduceren (deduce (a conclusion) by reasoning) · la fluo (obtain (something) from something else) · hy ստանալ (obtain (something) from something else) · fr découler (originate (from)) · la orior e (originate (from)) · la origo proficīscor (originate (from)) · fr dériver (originate (from)) · tr türemek (originate (from)) · da opstå (originate (from)) · fr dériver (find the derivation of (a word or phrase)) · fr trouver (obtain (something) from something else) · fa برگرفتن (originate (from)) · hu származtat (find the derivation of (a word or phrase)) · cs odvodit (deduce (a conclusion) by reasoning) · nl afleiden (find the derivation of (a word or phrase)) · de herleiten (deduce (a conclusion) by reasoning) · hu levezet (deduce (a conclusion) by reasoning) · la ab mano (originate (from))