Derive

How to spell derive

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce derive

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does derive mean?

1. verbTo obtain, draw, or trace something from a source or origin.

Derive in a sentence

• Investors hope to derive a steady income from the rental properties.

• Scholars derive much of the theory from earlier Greek texts.

Where does derive come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes from the Latin verb derivare, which literally meant 'to lead or draw off water', as when a channel is cut to divert a flow. It was built from the prefix de-, meaning 'away from' or 'down', and rivus, meaning 'a stream or brook'. The original picture, then, is of water being channelled away from its source, and that image of tracing something back to its origin survives in the modern sense of obtaining or deducing one thing from another. English borrowed it through Old French deriver in the late 1300s, at first in senses close to the watery original before broadening to ideas, words, and benefits. The same rivus root flows on into the familiar words 'river' and 'rivulet', which is a handy reminder that derive keeps a single i in the middle and ends in a silent e.

How the word is built

• de- (down, away from)
• rive (from Latin rivus: stream, channel)