different between contradictory vs different

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin contradictorius, from Latin contradico.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?k?nt???d?kt(?)?i/
• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /?k?nt???d?kt??i/
• Hyphenation: con?tra?dic?to?ry

Adjective

contradictory (comparative more contradictory, superlative most contradictory)

1. That contradicts something, such as an argument.
2. That is itself a contradiction.
3. That is diametrically opposed to something.
4. Mutually exclusive.
5. Tending to contradict or oppose, contrarious.

Synonyms

• opposite
• (mutually exclusive) incompatible

Derived terms

• contradictorily
• contradictoriness
• self-contradictory

Related terms

• contradict
• contradiction
• contradictorious

Translations

Noun

contradictory (plural contradictories)

1. (logic) Either of a pair of propositions, that cannot both be true or both be false.

Hyponyms

• negation

Translations

See also

• oxymoron
• paradox

English

Etymology

From Middle English different, from Old French different, from Latin differ?ns, present active participle of differ? (“I differ”); see differ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?d?f.(?)?.?nt/
• Hyphenation: dif?fer?ent, diffe?rent

Adjective

different (comparative more different, superlative most different)

1. Not the same; exhibiting a difference.
   • 1915, Edward Knobel, Ptolemy's Catalogue of Stars – A Revision of the Almagest, page 14 (showing that "to" was used by an Englishman in 1915)

     One interesting feature was remarked by Dr. Peters, viz.: that the instrument used for the longitudes of the original catalogue was graduated differently to that used for the latitudes.

   • 1971, William S. Burroughs, The Wild Boys: A Book of the Dead, page 6

     Enter the American tourist. He thinks of himself as a good guy but when he looks in the mirror to shave this good guy he has to admit that "well, other people are different from me and I don't really like them." This makes him feel guilty toward other people.
2. Various, assorted, diverse.
   • 2006, Delbert S. Elliott et al., Good Kids from Bad Neighborhoods: Successful Development in Social Context,^[1] Cambridge University Press, ?ISBN, page 19:

     In any case, poor black respondents living in high-poverty neighborhoods are most likely to view their neighborhood as a single block or block group and to use this definition consistently when asked about different neighborhood characteristics and activities.

3. Distinct, separate; used for emphasis after numbers and other determiners of quantity.

4. Unlike most others; unusual.

Usage notes

• (not the same): Depending on dialect, time period, and register, the adjective different (“not the same”) may be construed with one of the prepositions from, to, and than, or with the subordinating conjunction than.

  Pleasure is different from/than/to happiness.

  It's different than (or from what) I expected.

  Of these, from is more common in formal registers than in informal ones, and more common in the US than elsewhere; than is more common in the US than elsewhere; and to is more common in the UK, in Australia, and in New Zealand than in the US. Style guides often advocate different from, by analogy with differ from rather than *differ than or *differ to, and proscribe different than and different to.

Synonyms

• (not the same): other; See also Thesaurus:different
• (various): sundry; See also Thesaurus:assorted
• (distinct): apart, distinct; See also Thesaurus:separate
• (unlike most others): aberrant, deviant, nonstandard; See also Thesaurus:strange

Antonyms

• (not the same): alike, identical, same, similar
• (various): homogeneous
• (distinct): coherent, indistinct, unified
• (unlike most others): normal, usual; See also Thesaurus:normal
• (all senses): undifferent

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Noun

different (plural differents)

1. (mathematics) The different ideal.

Adverb

different (comparative more different, superlative most different)

1. Differently.

Further reading

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

German

Etymology

From Latin differ?ns.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [d?f????nt]
• Hyphenation: dif?fe?rent

Adjective

different (comparative differenter, superlative am differentesten)

1. different

Declension

Further reading

• “different” in Duden online

Latin

Verb

different

1. third-person plural future active indicative of differ?

Middle English

Alternative forms

• dyfferent

Etymology

From Old French different, from Latin differ?ns, present active participle of differ?; equivalent to differren (“to postpone”) +? -ent.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?dif?r?nt/, /di?f?r?nt/

Adjective

different (plural and weak singular differente)

1. different

Related terms

• differently

Descendants

• English: different
• Scots: different

References

• “different, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-07-31.