DERIVATION

noun Date: 15th century 1. a. the formation of a word from another word or base (as by the addition of a usually noninflectional affix), an act of ascertaining or stating the ~ of a word, etymology 1, the relation of a word to its base, 2. source , origin , descent , origination, something derived ; derivative , an act or process of deriving, a sequence of statements (as in logic or mathematics) showing that a result is a necessary consequence of previously accepted statements, ~al adjective