herzuleiten

Herzuleiten is commonly understood as a misspelling or nonstandard variant of the German verb herleiten. The standard term means to derive, deduce, or infer something from given facts, premises, or a general principle. It is used in logic, mathematics, philosophy, and linguistics to describe obtaining a result through reasoning or deduction. The correct form in standard German is the separable verb herleiten.

As a separable verb, its present tense forms appear with the prefix separated: ich leite her, du leitest her, er leitet her. The past tense can be expressed as ich leitete her or ich hat sie hergeleitet in the perfect, depending on the construction. The noun corresponding to the process is die Herleitung, meaning the derivation or the derivation process. Common constructions include aus X lässt sich Y herleiten, or die Herleitung von Y aus X.

In mathematical contexts, herleiten is used to describe deriving a formula, theorem, or consequence from definitions or axioms. In logic and philosophy, it denotes a step-by-step derivation or inference leading from premises to a conclusion. A related verb, ableiten, is also used in mathematics but has the additional meaning of differentiation in calculus, which can create a stylistic distinction between deriving conclusions and performing a calculus operation.

See also: Herleitung, Ableitung, Folgerung, Schlussfolgerung, Deduktion.