Etymologically
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derivative

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Pronunciation

  • /dɪˈɹɪvətɪv/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English derivatif,[2][3] borrowed from Middle French dérivatif,[4][5][6][7] recorded in the 15th century,[4][8] and directly from Late Latin dērīvātīvus,[8][3][9] a word used by Priscian.[4] The Latin adjective is formed from dērīvātus, the past participle of dērīvō (“to lead or draw off”), with the suffix -īvus.[8][9][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

As an adjective in medicine, drawing off blood or other fluid from a diseased part: before 1425, in the Middle English translation of Chauliac's surgery,[2] early in the 15th century according to Etymonline.[8] The noun, a derived word, is recorded about 1450.[2][8]

Semantic evolution

The medical sense lasted until the late 19th century.[5][4] In 1530 Palsgrave's French grammar used the word both for a derived word and, as an adjective, for something derived or secondary,[4][8] and Johnson (1755) defined it as "derived or taken from another".[10] The general noun, a thing derived from another, appears in Nashe (1593).[4][8] The mathematical sense, a derivative function, is from the 1670s, and the chemical sense, a compound made from a parent compound, from 1855.[8] Later uses include law (1765, deriving authority from another, in Blackstone), Darwin's derivative theories (1871), geology (1871 for displaced fossils, 1900 for rocks formed from older rocks) and the American shareholder's derivative action (1934).[4] The modern noun for a financial product whose value depends on an underlying asset, such as a future or option, is in the Oxford Dictionary of English (2010).[6] The disapproving sense "lacking originality", of a work of art, is common in current dictionaries.[9][11][6]

Timeline

  • before 1425 – medicine, drawing off fluid (obsolete by the late 19th century).[2][5]
  • c. 1450 – noun, a derived word.[2][8]
  • 1530 – derived, secondary; grammar, formed from another word.[4]
  • 1593 – noun, a thing derived from another.[4][8]
  • 1670s – mathematics, a derivative function.[8]
  • 1765 – deriving authority from another.[4]
  • 1855 – chemistry, a compound derived from another.[8]
  • 1871 – derivational; geology, of displaced fossils.[4]
  • 1934 – U.S. law, a shareholder's action for the corporation.[4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Copied from or imitating the work of others; lacking originality: Critics found the novel competent but derivative.[11][9][6]
  2. Derived from something else; secondary, not original or primary.[11][9][4]
  3. (grammar) Formed by derivation from another word.[9][4]
  4. (finance) Of a financial product, having a value that depends on an underlying asset.[6]
  5. (obsolete) In medicine, drawing off fluid from a diseased part.[5][4][2]

Noun

  1. Something derived from or developed out of something else: The new model is a derivative of the earlier design.[11][9][4][6]
  2. A word formed from another word or from a root.[11][9][4]
  3. (chemistry) A compound formed, or regarded as formed, from a related compound.[11][9][8]
  4. (mathematics) The derivative of a function, also called the differential coefficient.[11][9][8]
  5. (finance) A financial product such as a futures contract, an option or a warrant, whose value depends on an underlying asset.[6]

Word family

  • derivatively
  • derivativeness
  • nonderivative
  • underivative
  • subderivative
  • second derivative
  • directional derivative
  • partial derivative
  • derive
  • derivation
  • derivate

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  3. ^ a b c Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins