Derive - Descension

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3. To trace the origin, descent, or derivation of; to recognize transmission of; as, he derives this word from the Anglo-Saxon.
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From these two causes . . . an ancient set of physicians derived all diseases. Arbuthnot.
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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.
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Derive (?), v. i. To flow; to have origin; to descend; to proceed; to be deduced. Shak.
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Power from heaven
Derives, and monarchs rule by gods appointed. Prior.
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Derivement (?), n. That which is derived; deduction; inference. [Obs.]
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I offer these derivements from these subjects. W. Montagu.
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Deriver (?), n. One who derives.
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Derk (?), a. Dark. [Obs.] Chaucer.
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-derm (?). [See , n.] A suffix or terminal formative, much used in anatomical terms, and signifying skin, integument, covering; as, blastoderm, ectoderm, etc.
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Derm (?), n. [Gr. derma, -atos, skin, fr. � to skin, flay: cf. F. derme. See , v. t.] 1. The integument of animal; the skin.
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2. (Anat.) See .
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Derma (?), n. [NL. See .] (Anat.) See .
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Dermacentor n. a genus comprising vectors of important diseases of man and animals.
Syn. -- genus Dermacentor.
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Dermal (?), a. [From .] 1. Pertaining to the integument or skin of animals; dermic; as, the dermal secretions.
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2. (Anat.) Pertaining to the dermis or true skin.

Dermaptera (?), Dermapteran (�), n. (Zoöl.) See , .

{ Dermatic (?), Dermatine (?), } a. [Gr. �, �, fr. � skin.] Of or pertaining to the skin.
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Dermatitis (?), n. [NL., fr. Gr. derma, -atos, skin + -itis.] (Med.) Inflammation of the skin.
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Dermatogen (?), n. [Gr. derma, -atos, skin + -gen.] (Bot.) Nascent epidermis, or external cuticle of plants in a forming condition.
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Dermatography (?), n. [Gr. derma, -atos, skin + -graphy.] An anatomical description of, or treatise on, the skin.
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Dermatoid (?), a. [Gr. derma, -atos, skin + -oid: cf. F. dermatoïde. Cf. .] Resembling skin; skinlike.
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dermatologic, dermatological adj. of or pertaining to dermatology.
Syn. -- dermatologic.
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dermatologist (?), n. One who discourses on the skin and its diseases; one versed in dermatology; especially, a physician with specialized training in dermatology, licensed to practise as a specialist in treating diseases of the skin.
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Dermatology (?), n. [Gr. derma, -atos, skin + -logy: cf. F. dermatologie.] The science which treats of the skin, its structure, functions, and diseases.
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Dermatopathic (?), a. [Gr. derma, -atos, skin + paqos suffering.] (Med.) Of or pertaining to skin diseases, or their cure.
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Dermatophyte (dẽrmăt�fīt or dẽrmȧt�fīt), n. [Gr. derma, -atos, skin + fyton plant.] (Med.) A fungus infecting and parasitic on the skin, especially one which causes disease; as, ringworm is caused by a dermatophyte.

Dermestes (?), n. [NL., from Gr. dermhsths; derma skin + root of � to eat.] (Zoöl.) A genus of coleopterous insects, the larvæ of which feed animal substances. They are very destructive to dries meats, skins, woolens, and furs. The most common species is Dermestes lardarius, known as the bacon beetle.
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Dermestoid (?), a. [Dermestes + -oid.] (Zoöl.) Pertaining to or resembling the genus Dermestes.
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The carpet beetle, called the buffalo moth, is a dermestoid beetle. Pop. Sci. Monthly.
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Dermic (?), a. 1. Relating to the derm or skin.
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2. (Anat.) Pertaining to the dermis; dermal.
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Underneath each nail the deep or dermic layer of the integument is peculiarly modified. Huxley.
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Coloq. Dermic remedies (Med.), such as act through the skin.
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Dermis (?), n. [NL. See .] (Anat.) The deep sensitive layer of the skin beneath the scarfskin or epidermis; -- called also true skin, derm, derma, corium, cutis, and enderon. See , and Illust. in Appendix.
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Dermobranchiata (?), n. pl. [NL.] (Zoöl.) A group of nudibranch mollusks without special gills.
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Dermobranchiate (?), a. [Derm + branchiate.] (Zoöl.) Having the skin modified to serve as a gill.
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Dermohæmal (?), a. (Anat.) Pertaining to, or in relation with, both dermal and hæmal structures; as, the dermohæmal spines or ventral fin rays of fishes.
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Dermoid (?), a. [Derm + -oid: cf. F. dermoïde.] Same as .
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Coloq. Dermoid cyst (Med.), a cyst containing skin, or structures connected with skin, such as hair.
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Dermoneural (?), a. (Anat.) Pertaining to, or in relation with, both dermal and neural structures; as, the dermoneural spines or dorsal fin rays of fishes. Owen.
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Dermopathic (?), a. (Med.) Dermatopathic.
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Dermophyte (?), n. A dermatophyte.
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Dermoptera (?), n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. � skin + � wing.] 1. (Zoöl.) The division of insects which includes the earwigs (Forticulidæ).
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2. (Zoöl.) A group of lemuroid mammals having a parachutelike web of skin between the fore and hind legs, of which the colugo (Galeopithecus) is the type. See .
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3. (Zoöl.) An order of Mammalia; the .

[Written also Dermaptera, and Dermatoptera.]
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Dermopteran (?), n. (Zoöl.) An insect which has the anterior pair of wings coriaceous, and does not use them in flight, as the earwig.
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Dermopteri (?), n. pl. [NL.] (Zoöl.) Same as .
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Dermopterygii (?), n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. � skin + � wing, fin, dim. of � wing.] (Zoöl.) A group of fishlike animals including the Marsipobranchiata and Leptocardia.
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Dermoskeleton (?), n. [Derm + skeleton.] (Anat.) See .
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Dermostosis (?), n. [NL., from Gr. � skin + � bone.] (Physiol.) Ossification of the dermis.
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Dern (?), n. [Etymol. uncertain.] A gatepost or doorpost. [Local Eng.] C. Kingsley.
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Dern, a. [See , a.] 1. Hidden; concealed; secret. [Obs.] “Ye must be full dern.” Chaucer.
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2. Solitary; sad. [Obs.] Dr. H. More.
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Derne (?), v. t. & i. [AS. dyrnan to hide. See , a., , a.] To hide; to skulk. [Scot.]
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He at length escaped them by derning himself in a foxearth. H. Miller.
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Dernful (?), a. Secret; hence, lonely; sad; mournful. [Obs.] “Dernful noise.” Spenser.
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Dernier (?), a. [F., from OF. darrein, derrain. See .] Last; final.
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Coloq. Dernier ressort (�) [F.], last resort or expedient.
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Dernly (?), adv. Secretly; grievously; mournfully. [Obs.] Spenser.
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Derogant (?), a. [L. derogans, p. pr.] Derogatory. [R.] T. Adams.
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Derogate (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Derogated (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Derogating (?).] [L. derogatus, p. p. of derogare to derogate; de- + rogare to ask, to ask the people about a law. See .] 1. To annul in part; to repeal partly; to restrict; to limit the action of; -- said of a law.
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By several contrary customs, . . . many of the civil and canon laws are controlled and derogated. Sir M. Hale.
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2. To lessen; to detract from; to disparage; to depreciate; -- said of a person or thing. [R.]
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Anything . . . that should derogate, minish, or hurt his glory and his name. Sir T. More.
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Derogate (?), v. i. 1. To take away; to detract; to withdraw; -- usually with from.
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If we did derogate from them whom their industry hath made great. Hooker.
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It derogates little from his fortitude, while it adds infinitely to the honor of his humanity. Burke.
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2. To act beneath one-s rank, place, birth, or character; to degenerate. [R.]
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You are a fool granted; therefore your issues, being foolish, do not derogate. Shak.
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Would Charles X. derogate from his ancestors? Would he be the degenerate scion of that royal line? Hazlitt.
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Derogate (?), n. [L. derogatus, p. p.] Diminished in value; dishonored; degraded. [R.] Shak.
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Derogately, adv. In a derogatory manner.
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Derogation (?), n. [L. derogatio: cf. F. dérogation.] 1. The act of derogating, partly repealing, or lessening in value; disparagement; detraction; depreciation; -- followed by of, from, or to.
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I hope it is no derogation to the Christian religion. Locke.
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He counted it no derogation of his manhood to be seen to weep. F. W. Robertson.
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2. (Stock Exch.) An alteration of, or subtraction from, a contract for a sale of stocks.
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Derogative (?), a. Derogatory. -- Derogatively, adv. [R.] Sir T. Browne.
Syn. -- belittling, depreciative, deprecatory, depreciatory, derogatory, detractive, detracting, slighting, pejorative, denigratory.
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Derogator (?), n. [L.] A detractor.
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derogatorily (?), adv. In a derogatory manner; disparagingly. Aubrey.
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derogatoriness, n. Quality of being derogatory.
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derogatory (?), a. Tending to derogate, or lessen in value; expressing a low opinion; expressing derogation; detracting; injurious; -- with from, to, or unto.
Syn. -- belittling, depreciative, deprecatory, depreciatory, derogatory, detractive, detracting, slighting, pejorative, denigratory.
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Acts of Parliament derogatory from the power of subsequent Parliaments bind not. Blackstone.
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His language was severely censured by some of his brother peers as derogatory to their other. Macaulay.
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Coloq. Derogatory clause in a testament (Law), a sentence of secret character inserted by the testator alone, of which he reserves the knowledge to himself, with a condition that no will he may make thereafter shall be valid, unless this clause is inserted word for word; -- a precaution to guard against later wills extorted by violence, or obtained by suggestion.
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Derotremata (?), n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. deros skin + �, �, hole.] (Zoöl.) The tribe of aquatic Amphibia which includes Amphiuma, Menopoma, etc. They have permanent gill openings, but no external gills; -- called also Cryptobranchiata. [Written also Derotrema.]
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Derre (?), a. Dearer. [Obs.] Chaucer.
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Derrick (?), n. [Orig., a gallows, from a hangman named Derrick. The name is of Dutch origin; D. Diederik, Dierryk, prop. meaning, chief of the people; cf. AS. peódric, E. Theodoric, G. Dietrich. See , and .] 1. A mast, spar, or tall frame, supported at the top by stays or guys, and usually pivoted at the base, with suitable tackle for hoisting heavy weights, such as stones in building.
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2. (Mining) The pyramidal structure or tower over a deep drill hole, such as that of an oil well (also called an oil derrick .
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Coloq. Derrick crane , a combination of the derrick and the crane, having facility for hoisting and also for swinging the load horizontally.
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Derring, a. Daring or warlike. [Obs.]
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Drad for his derring doe and bloody deed. Spenser.
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derring-do n. brave and heroic deeds.
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Derringer (?), n. [From the American inventor.] A kind of short-barreled pocket pistol, of very large caliber, often carrying a half-ounce ball.
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Derth (?), n. Dearth; scarcity. [Obs.] Spenser.
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Dertrotheca (?), n. [NL., fr. Gr. � beak + � box, case.] (Zoöl.) The horny covering of the end of the bill of birds.

{ Dervish (?), Dervise (?), Dervis (?), } n. [Per. derwēsch, fr. OPer. derew to beg, ask alms: cf. F. derviche.] 1. A Turkish or Persian monk, especially one who professes extreme poverty and leads an austere life.
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2. One of the fanatical followers of the Mahdi, in the Sudan, in the 1880's.
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3. in modern times, a member of an ascetic Mohammedan sect notable for its devotional exercises, which include energetic chanting or shouting and rhythmic bodily movement, such as whirling, leading to a trance-like state or ecstasy. From these exercises the phrase whirling dervish is derived.
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4. figuratively, a person who whirls or engages in frenzied activity reminiscent of the dervish{3} dancing.
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Derworth (dērwẽrth), a. [AS. deórwurþe, lit., dearworth.] Precious. [Obs.] Piers Plowman.
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desalinate v. t. to remove the salt from, especially from water; as, it is necessary to desalinate sea water to make it fit to drink. several processes are in comon use for desalinating sea water. Distillation is effective, but expensive. is more economical.
Syn. -- desalt, desalinize.
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desalination n. same as .
Syn. -- desalinization, desalinisation.
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desalinisation n. same as .
Syn. -- desalination, desalinization.
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desalinization n. the removal of salt (especially from sea water); the act or process of desalinating.
Syn. -- desalination, desalinisation.
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desalinize v. t. same as .
Syn. -- desalinate, desalt.
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desalt v. to remove the salt from (a solution of salt). This term is used in a more general sense than , which usually refers to the removal of common salt (sodium chloride) from a water solution, such as sea water. Desalt is commonly used to refer to any laboratory or industrial process in which any salt may be removed from a mixture of substances dssolved in a solvent, usually water. It is thus used as a method of purification in chemical processes. The methods for desalting are very varied.
Syn. -- desalinate, desalinize.
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descale v. t. to remove the scales from; -- e.g. of fish, or water boilers.
Syn. -- scale.
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Descant (dĕskănt), n. [OF. descant, deschant, F. déchant, discant, LL. discantus, fr. L. dis + cantus singing, melody, fr. canere to sing. See , and cf. , v. i., .] 1. (Mus.) (a) Originally, a double song; a melody or counterpoint sung above the plain song of the tenor; a variation of an air; a variation by ornament of the main subject or plain song. (b) The upper voice in part music. (c) The canto, cantus, or soprano voice; the treble. Grove.
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Twenty doctors expound one text twenty ways, as children make descant upon plain song. Tyndale.
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She [the nightingale] all night long her amorous descant sung. Milton.
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☞ The term has also been used synonymously with counterpoint, or polyphony, which developed out of the French déchant, of the 12th century.
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2. A discourse formed on its theme, like variations on a musical air; a comment or comments.
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Upon that simplest of themes how magnificent a descant! De Quincey.
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Descant (dĕskănt), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Descanted; p. pr. & vb. n. Descanting.] [From descant; n.; or directly fr. OF. descanter, deschanter; L. dis- + cantare to sing.] 1. To sing a variation or accomplishment.
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2. To comment freely; to discourse with fullness and particularity; to discourse at large.
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A virtuous man should be pleased to find people descanting on his actions. Addison.
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Descanter (?), n. One who descants.
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Descartes (d�kärt) prop. n. René Descartes, a French philosopher and mathematician, born 159, died 1650. See biography, below.
Syn. -- Rene Descartes.
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Descartes, René (Latinized Renatus Cartesius). Born at La Haye, Touraine, France, March 31, 1596: died at Stockholm, Feb. 11, 1650. A. celebrated French philosopher, founder of Cartesianism and of modern philosophy in general. He was graduated at seventeen from the Jesuit college of La Flèche, spent five years in Paris (1613-18), and then roamed about in search of knowledge in Germany, Italy, Holland, and Poland. In 1628 he attended the siege of La Rochelle as a volunteer. From 1629 to 1649 he led a retired life in Holland, spreading and defending his philosophical ideas. He finally went to Stockholm on the invitation of Queen Christina of Sweden; five months later he died there of pneumonia. The work that has made him famous as a philosopher is a short treatise entitled Discours de la méthode (Leyden, 1637). It was published in French together with three essays in support of his theories, La dioptrique, Les météores, and La géométrie. In it he revolutionized the science of thought. Descartes himself published during his lifetime Meditationes de prima philosophia (Paris, 1641; Amsterdam, 1642; translated into French, 1647), Principia philosophiae (Amsterdam, 1644), Traité des passions de l'âme (Amsterdam, 1649), and a polemic pamphlet entitled Epistola Renati Descartes ad Gisbertum Voëitum (Amsterdam, 1643). After his death his friends published his De l'homme (1664), Traité de la formation du foetus (1664), Le monde ou traité de la lumière de Descartes (1664), Lettres (1657-67), and Opuscula posthuma, physica et mathematica (Amsterdam, 1701). Descartes ranked among the foremost mathematicians of his day. A separate reprint was made of his geometry, and the work itself was translated into Latin in 1649, and reëdited in 1659 with notes and comments. In this form it constituted a classic standard throughout Europe, and presented an entirely new basis for the study of algebra and geometry.
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Descend (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Descended; p. pr. & vb. n. Descending.] [F. descendre, L. descendere, descensum; de- + scandere to climb. See .] 1. To pass from a higher to a lower place; to move downwards; to come or go down in any way, as by falling, flowing, walking, etc.; to plunge; to fall; to incline downward; -- the opposite of ascend.
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The rain descended, and the floods came. Matt. vii. 25.
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We will here descend to matters of later date. Fuller.
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2. To enter mentally; to retire. [Poetic]
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[He] with holiest meditations fed,
Into himself descended. Milton.
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3. To make an attack, or incursion, as if from a vantage ground; to come suddenly and with violence; -- with on or upon.
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And on the suitors let thy wrath descend. Pope.
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4. To come down to a lower, less fortunate, humbler, less virtuous, or worse, state or station; to lower or abase one's self; as, he descended from his high estate.
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5. To pass from the more general or important to the particular or less important matters to be considered.
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6. To come down, as from a source, original, or stock; to be derived; to proceed by generation or by transmission; to fall or pass by inheritance; as, the beggar may descend from a prince; a crown descends to the heir.
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7. (Anat.) To move toward the south, or to the southward.
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8. (Mus.) To fall in pitch; to pass from a higher to a lower tone.
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Descend (?), v. t. To go down upon or along; to pass from a higher to a lower part of; as, they descended the river in boats; to descend a ladder.
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But never tears his cheek descended. Byron.
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Descendant (?), a. [F. descendant, p. pr. of descendre. Cf. .] Descendent.
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Descendant, n. One who descends, as offspring, however remotely; -- correlative to ancestor or ascendant.
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Our first parents and their descendants. Hale.
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The descendant of so many kings and emperors. Burke.
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descendants n. all of the offspring of a given progenitor.
Syn. -- posterity.
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Descendent (?), a. [L. descendens, -entis, p. pr. of descendre. Cf. .] Descending; falling; proceeding from an ancestor or source.
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More than mortal grace
Speaks thee descendent of ethereal race. Pope.
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Descender (?), n. One who descends.
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Descendibility (?), n. The quality of being descendible; capability of being transmitted from ancestors; as, the descendibility of an estate.
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Descendible (?), a. 1. Admitting descent; capable of being descended.
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2. That may descend from an ancestor to an heir. “A descendant estate.” Sir W. Jones.
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Descending, a. Of or pertaining to descent; moving downwards.
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Coloq. Descending constellations or Coloq. Descending signs (Astron.), those through which the planets descent toward the south. -- Coloq. Descending node (Astron.), that point in a planet's orbit where it intersects the ecliptic in passing southward. -- Coloq. Descending series (Math.), a series in which each term is numerically smaller than the preceding one; also, a series arranged according to descending powers of a quantity.
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Descendingly, adv. In a descending manner.
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Descension (?), n. [OF. descension, L. descensio. See .] The act of going downward; descent; falling or sinking; declension; degradation.
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Coloq. Oblique descension (Astron.), the degree or arc of the equator which descends, with a celestial object, below the horizon of an oblique sphere. -- Coloq. Right descension , the degree or arc of the equator which descends below the horizon of a right sphere at the same time with the object. [Obs.]
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