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dérive

drift, deviation

noun deh-REEV Rare
Travel & Places Transportation

Also means

fin (of a boat or surfboard)

Usage Note

Dérive evokes a gradual straying off course, used both literally (a boat's drift) and figuratively (une dérive autoritaire = an authoritarian drift). The phrase à la dérive means 'adrift' or 'going off the rails'. The verb dériver means 'to drift' as well as 'to derive' (a word or formula).

Examples

"Le bateau partait à la dérive."

Natural Translation

The boat was drifting away.

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