derivative
Pronunciation: [dɪˈrɪv.ə.tɪv]
Word
Context: "mathematics"
(noun) a derivative is a way to understand how a function or a line changes. It's like asking how fast something is going or how steep a hill is. If you think of a car on a road, the derivative tells you how fast the car is going as it moves along.
Example
In math class, we learned that the derivative of position gives us the speed of a moving object.
Example
The derivative of a constant number is zero; it doesn't change at all.
Example
What is the derivative of this equation, and what does it tell us about the line?
Context: "linguistics"
(noun) a derivative is a word that comes from another word. It's like when you take a root word and make new words from it. For example, 'happy' is the root word, and 'happiness' is a derivative that means the state of being happy.
Example
The word 'teacher' is a derivative of the word 'teach', meaning someone who teaches.
Example
Not all forms of a word are derivatives; for example, 'cat' is not derived from 'catalog'.
Example
Can you think of a derivative from the word 'play'?
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