Both Uses of
derive
in
Middlemarch
- I protest against any absolute conclusion, any prejudice derived from Mrs. Cadwallader's contempt for a neighboring clergyman's alleged greatness of soul, or Sir James Chettam's poor opinion of his rival's legs,—from Mr. Brooke's failure to elicit a companion's ideas, or from Celia's criticism of a middle-aged scholar's personal appearance.†
Chpt 1 *
- Not immediately—no. In order to account for that wish I must mention—what it were otherwise needless to refer to—that my life, on all collateral accounts insignificant, derives a possible importance from the incompleteness of labors which have extended through all its best years.†
Chpt 4
Definition:
-
(derive) to get something from something else
(If the context doesn't otherwise indicate where something came from, it is generally from reasoning--especially deductive reasoning.)