derivation

[ der-uh-vey-shuhn ]
See synonyms for derivation on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. the act or fact of deriving or of being derived.

  2. the process of deriving.

  1. the source from which something is derived; origin.

  2. something that is or has been derived; derivative.

  3. Mathematics.

  4. Grammar.

    • the process or device of adding affixes to or changing the shape of a base, thereby assigning the result to a form class that may undergo further inflection or participate in different syntactic constructions, as in forming service from serve, song from sing, and hardness from hard (contrasted with inflection).

    • the systematic description of such processes in a given language.

  5. Linguistics.

    • a set of forms, including the initial form, intermediate forms, and final form, showing the successive stages in the generation of a sentence as the rules of a generative grammar are applied to it.

    • the process by which such a set of forms is derived.

Origin of derivation

1
1375–1425; late Middle English derivacioun<Latin dērīvātiōn- (stem of dērīvātiō) a turning away, equivalent to dērīvāt(us) (past participle of dērīvāre;see derive, -ate1) + -iōn--ion

Other words from derivation

  • der·i·va·tion·al, adjective
  • der·i·va·tion·al·ly, adverb
  • pre·der·i·va·tion, noun

Words Nearby derivation

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use derivation in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for derivation

derivation

/ (ˌdɛrɪˈveɪʃən) /


noun
  1. the act of deriving or state of being derived

  2. the source, origin, or descent of something, such as a word

  1. something derived; a derivative

    • the process of deducing a mathematical theorem, formula, etc, as a necessary consequence of a set of accepted statements

    • this sequence of statements

    • the operation of finding a derivative

Derived forms of derivation

  • derivational, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012