To get something from a source, such as receiving a feeling from an experience or a word coming from an older language. In math, it can also mean to obtain something, like a formula, by reasoning or calculation.
From Latin *derivare* meaning 'to draw off, to divert (a stream)', from *de-* ('from') and *rivus* ('stream'). The image of water flowing from one stream into another became a metaphor for ideas, words, and benefits flowing from a source.
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