1 In transformational grammar, the process and result of deriving sentences through the use of successive transformations or phrase structure rules. 2 In historical linguistics, the reconstruction of etymological relationships that exist, for example,...

In linguistics, derivation is "Used to form new words, as with happi-ness and un-happy from happy, or determination from determine. A contrast is intended with the process of inflection, which uses another kind of affix in order to form variants of the...