From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Derive \De*rive"\, v. i.
To flow; to have origin; to descend; to proceed; to be
deduced. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
Power from heaven
Derives, and monarchs rule by gods appointed. --Prior.
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Derive \De*rive"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Derived; p. pr. & vb.
n. Deriving.] [F. d['e]river, L. derivare; de- + rivus
stream, brook. See Rival.]
1. To turn the course of, as water; to divert and distribute
into subordinate channels; to diffuse; to communicate; to
transmit; -- followed by to, into, on, upon. [Obs.]
[1913 Webster]
For fear it [water] choke up the pits . . . they
[the workman] derive it by other drains. --Holland.
[1913 Webster]
Her due loves derived to that vile witch's share.
--Spenser.
[1913 Webster]
Derived to us by tradition from Adam to Noah. --Jer.
Taylor.
[1913 Webster]
2. To receive, as from a source or origin; to obtain by
descent or by transmission; to draw; to deduce; --
followed by from.
[1913 Webster]
3. To trace the origin, descent, or derivation of; to
recognize transmission of; as, he derives this word from
the Anglo-Saxon.
[1913 Webster]
From these two causes . . . an ancient set of
physicians derived all diseases. --Arbuthnot.
[1913 Webster]
4. (Chem.) To obtain one substance from another by actual or
theoretical substitution; as, to derive an organic acid
from its corresponding hydrocarbon.
Syn: To trace; deduce; infer.
[1913 Webster]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
derive
v 1: reason by deduction; establish by deduction [syn: deduce,
infer, deduct, derive]
2: obtain; "derive pleasure from one's garden" [syn: derive,
gain]
3: come from; "The present name derives from an older form"
4: develop or evolve from a latent or potential state [syn:
derive, educe]
5: come from; be connected by a relationship of blood, for
example; "She was descended from an old Italian noble
family"; "he comes from humble origins" [syn: derive,
come, descend]