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dériver

to drift

verb deh-ree-VEH Rare

Origin: From Latin 'derivare' (to divert water from a stream)

Also means

to derive (from)

Usage Note

Dériver covers both physical drift (a boat drifting off course) and linguistic/conceptual origin: ce mot dérive du latin ('this word derives from Latin'). The related noun dérive means 'drift' or 'deviation'; partir à la dérive is the idiom for going off the rails.

Examples

"Le bateau a dérivé loin du port."

Natural Translation

The boat drifted far from the port.

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