How to Use derivation in a Sentence

derivation

noun
  • Scientists are debating the possible derivation of birds from dinosaurs.
  • But just keep in mind that is the derivation of the three-point shot.
    — Ryan Canfield, Fox News, 30 Oct. 2024
  • Everything old is new again, though with some slight derivations.
    — Dan Sweeney, Sun-Sentinel.com, 25 Jan. 2018
  • Soul and its pop derivations grew directly from gospel’s breakthroughs.
    — Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 29 Oct. 2019
  • The token is a reference rather than a derivation of the data.
    — Ed Leavens, Forbes.com, 15 May 2026
  • But there were just enough difference that the derivation was not a replication.
    — Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 25 May 2012
  • In other derivations, Samshin beats the baby blue, until it is forced from the womb.
    — Longreads, 1 Aug. 2017
  • The elaboration could have nothing to do with the wild path of the answer derivation.
    — Lance Eliot, Forbes, 3 May 2023
  • The derivation of the name Saigon is somewhat vague and centers around its water location.
    — Antonia Neubauer, Town & Country, 5 Oct. 2016
  • Not sure of her derivation of Lambuleh, or Lamby, but he was called that for the next 93 years.
    — Kevin Fisher-Paulson, San Francisco Chronicle, 10 Aug. 2021
  • It is named for the Latin derivation for Copenhagen, the city in which the metal was discovered.
    — Marc Bona, cleveland, 9 Jan. 2023
  • The rest—the skyscrapers and supermarkets and weddings—were just a matter of derivation.
    — Carl Zimmer, Discover Magazine, 19 Aug. 2014
  • Delta 8 distillate is legal in many states due to its derivation from hemp rather than marijuana.
    — Amber Smith, Discover Magazine, 4 Aug. 2023
  • So what's the problem with students taking a picture in class of a physics solution or the derivation of an equation?
    — Rhett Allain, WIRED, 29 Dec. 2022
  • And woven into every page and at each chapter heading are gorgeous language derivations.
    — The Know, Denver Post, 4 June 2026
  • The chances are that language switching isn’t necessarily active for the chain-of-thought derivations.
    — Lance Eliot, Forbes, 15 Jan. 2025
  • Over the years, single-member districts became the unquestioned norm and any derivation from them the strange exception.
    — Matt Ford, The New Republic, 31 Dec. 2020
  • The Met has a fantastic show of Mexican painting up right now, and all of that art has a Catholic derivation.
    — Jason Farago, New York Times, 20 May 2018
  • The actual derivation is from the 17th-century French picnique, and has nothing to do with race.
    — Richard Lederer, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 Aug. 2019
  • The derivation isn’t surprising on its own (no one would mistake a typical Roman for a feminist).
    — Megan Garber, The Atlantic, 9 May 2018
  • The new travel trailer breaks free from the confines of tiny teardrop derivation to sleep the entire family (kinda) and supply an all-electric off-grid base camp.
    — New Atlas, 12 July 2024
  • But how to keep the project from feeling like a copy of a copy, a derivation of something that was already loudly, intentionally derivative?
    — David Sims, The Atlantic, 16 Feb. 2022
  • The latter two are known as fentanyl analogues, or derivations from the traditional chemical makeup of fentanyl.
    — Phil Davis, baltimoresun.com, 16 Aug. 2019
  • Not all of Ylitalo’s creations are so clearly of Asian or Buddhist derivation.
    — Mark Jenkins, Washington Post, 31 Jan. 2020
  • Here two most famous red wines are Veneroso - a derivation of the family name - and Nambrot, which was the first name of the founder of the family.
    — Tom Hyland, Forbes, 6 Dec. 2021
  • The researchers' equation contains over 20 parameters, and the derivation appears more akin to math charting the path of spaceships.
    — Nathaniel Scharping, Discover Magazine, 17 Nov. 2016
  • Schaefer gives his kids word lists to study, crafts a spelling curriculum, hammers home word roots and language derivations and enlists the help of word games and mini-bees to keep students engaged.
    — Elizabeth Hernandez, The Denver Post, 10 June 2019
  • Whatever its derivation, the Greyback presides over gamey country in the Wyoming Range of western Wyoming.
    — Andrew McKean, Outdoor Life, 2 May 2023
  • Puryear is an American artist of African descent who has worked in a sculptural idiom of European derivation for nearly five decades.
    — Christopher Knight, Los Angeles Times, 21 May 2024
  • The album’s title, Viajante (a derivation of traveler), explains it.
    — Leila Cobo, Billboard, 28 Apr. 2022

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'derivation.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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