different between attribute vs differentia

English

Etymology

From Latin attributus past participle of attribuere.

Pronunciation

Noun

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?æt??bju?t/
• (General American) enPR: ??tr?-byo?ot', IPA^(key): /?æt????bjut/
• Rhymes: -æt??bju?t
• Hyphenation: at?tri?bute

Verb

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /??t??bju?t/
• (General American) enPR: ?-tr??byo?ot', IPA^(key): /??t???bjut/
• Rhymes: -?bju?t
• Hyphenation: at?trib?ute

Noun

attribute (plural attributes)

1. A characteristic or quality of a thing.

   His finest attribute is his kindness.

2. An object that is considered typical of someone or some function, in particular as an artistic convention.

3. (grammar) A word that qualifies a noun, a qualifier.

   In the clause "My jacket is more expensive than yours", "My" is the attribute of "jacket".

4. (logic) That which is predicated or affirmed of a subject; a predicate; an accident.
5. (computing, object-oriented programming) An option or setting belonging to some object.

   This packet has its coherency attribute set to zero.

   A file with the read-only attribute set cannot be overwritten.

6. (programming) A semantic item with which a method or other code element may be decorated.

   Properties can be marked as obsolete with an attribute, which will cause the compiler to generate a warning if they are used.

   • 2003, Peter Drayton, Ben Albahari, Ted Neward, C# in a Nutshell (page 536)

     This attribute is used to declare in metadata that the attributed method or class requires SocketPermission of the declared form.

7. (computer graphics, dated) A numeric value representing the colours of part of the screen display.
   • 1987, Marcus Berkmann, Sceptre Of Bagdad (video game review) in Your Sinclair issue 17

     […] you can only carry two objects, your attributes clash when you walk past multi-coloured objects and your enemies fly up and down from the ceiling.

   • 1989, PC: The Independent Guide to IBM Personal Computers

     If any of the video buffer's background attribute bits are on, MONO converts the attribute to 70h (inverse video).

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:characteristic

Derived terms

Related terms

• attributive

Translations

Verb

attribute (third-person singular simple present attributes, present participle attributing, simple past and past participle attributed)

1. To ascribe (something) to a given cause, reason etc.
2. To associate ownership or authorship of (something) to someone.

   This poem is attributed to Browning.

   • 1663, John Tillotson, The Wisdom of being Religious

     We attribute nothing to God that hath any repugnancy or contradiction in it.

   • 2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin 2010, p. 278:

     H?kim's atypical actions should not be attributed to Islam as much as to insanity, which eventually led him to proclaim himself as Allah, whereupon he was murdered by outraged fellow Muslims.

Conjugation

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

• attribute in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• attribute in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• ribattute

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /at.tri?bu?.te/, [ät?????bu?t??]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /at.tri?bu.te/, [?t???i?bu?t??]

Adjective

attrib?te

1. vocative masculine singular of attrib?tus

English

Etymology

From Latin differentia. Doublet of difference.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /d?f????n???/

Noun

differentia (plural differentiae)

1. (semantics, logic, taxonomy) A distinguishing feature which marks a species off from other members of the same genus.
   • 1902, William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience, Folio Society 2008, p. 38:

     That character, it seems to me, should be regarded as the practically important differentia of religion for our purpose.

   • 2017, Kory Stamper, Word By Word, Vintage 2018, p. 116:

     In the case of a word like “surfboard,” the differentiae seem pretty clear. How is this board different from all other boards?

See also

• criterion
• definiendum

Interlingua

Noun

differentia (plural differentias)

1. difference

Latin

Etymology

From differ? (“I am different”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /dif.fe?ren.ti.a/, [d??f?????n?t?iä]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /dif.fe?ren.t?si.a/, [d?if?????nt??s?i?]

Noun

differentia f (genitive differentiae); first declension

1. difference
2. diversity

Declension

First-declension noun.

Descendants

Participle

differentia

1. nominative neuter plural of differ?ns
2. accusative neuter plural of differ?ns
3. vocative neuter plural of differ?ns

References

• differentia in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• differentia in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• differentia in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• differentia in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette