different between difference vs differentia
difference
English
Etymology
From Middle English difference, from Old French difference, from Latin differentia (“difference”), from differ?ns (“different”), present participle of differre. Doublet of differentia.
Morphologically differ +? -ence.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /?d?f??n(t)s/
- (rare) IPA(key): /?d?f???n(t)s/
- Hyphenation: diffe?rence, dif?fer?ence
Noun
difference (countable and uncountable, plural differences)
- (uncountable) The quality of being different.
- Antonyms: identity, sameness
- (countable) A characteristic of something that makes it different from something else.
- (countable) A disagreement or argument.
- We have our little differences, but we are firm friends.
- 1714, Thomas Ellwood, The History of the Life of Thomas Ellwood: written by his own hand
- Away therefore went I with the constable, leaving the old warden and the young constable to compose their difference as they could.
- (countable, uncountable) Significant change in or effect on a situation or state.
- 1908, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows
- The line of the horizon was clear and hard against the sky, and in one particular quarter it showed black against a silvery climbing phosphorescence that grew and grew. At last, over the rim of the waiting earth the moon lifted with slow majesty till it swung clear of the horizon and rode off, free of moorings; and once more they began to see surfaces—meadows wide-spread, and quiet gardens, and the river itself from bank to bank, all softly disclosed, all washed clean of mystery and terror, all radiant again as by day, but with a difference that was tremendous.
- 1908, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows
- (countable) The result of a subtraction; sometimes the absolute value of this result.
- The difference between 3 and 21 is 18.
- (obsolete) Choice; preference.
- (heraldry) An addition to a coat of arms to distinguish two people's bearings which would otherwise be the same. See augmentation and cadency.
- (logic) The quality or attribute which is added to those of the genus to constitute a species; a differentia.
- (logic circuits) A Boolean operation which is TRUE when the two input variables are different but is otherwise FALSE; the XOR operation ().
- (relational algebra) the set of elements that are in one set but not another ().
Synonyms
- (characteristic of something that makes it different from something else): departure, deviation, divergence, disparity
- (disagreement or argument about something important): conflict, difference of opinion, dispute, dissension
- (result of a subtraction): remainder
- (significant change in state): nevermind
Derived terms
Translations
See also
- addition, summation: (augend) + (addend) = (summand) + (summand) = (sum, total)
- subtraction: (minuend) ? (subtrahend) = (difference)
- multiplication: (multiplier) × (multiplicand) = (factor) × (factor) = (product)
- division: (dividend) ÷ (divisor) = (quotient), remainder left over if divisor does not divide dividend
Verb
difference (third-person singular simple present differences, present participle differencing, simple past and past participle differenced)
- (obsolete, transitive) To distinguish or differentiate.
- 1672 Gideon Harvey, Morbus Anglicus, Or, The Anatomy of Consumptions
- This simple spectation of the lungs is differenced from that which concomitates a pleurisy.
- (The addition of quotations indicative of this usage is being sought:)
- 1672 Gideon Harvey, Morbus Anglicus, Or, The Anatomy of Consumptions
Synonyms
- (to distinguish or differentiate): differentiate, distinguish
Translations
Related terms
Further reading
- difference in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- difference in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
Middle English
Alternative forms
- differens, defference, defferense, dyfferens
Etymology
From Old French difference, from Latin differ?ntia; equivalent to differren (“to postpone”) +? -ence.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /?dif?r?ns(?)/, /di?f?r?ns(?)/
Noun
difference (plural differences or difference)
- Difference; the state of being different.
- A difference; an element which separates.
- Distinguishment; the finding or creation of dissimilarity.
- (heraldry, rare) A heraldic cadency for a family's junior branch.
- (mathematics, rare) The result of subtraction; an amount left over.
- (mathematics, rare) An order in decimal representation of numbers.
- (rare) Something that people do not agree upon.
Descendants
- English: difference
- Scots: difference
References
- “difference, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-07-31.
Old French
Alternative forms
- differance
Etymology
From Latin differentia.
Noun
difference f (oblique plural differences, nominative singular difference, nominative plural differences)
- difference
Descendants
- ? Middle English: difference, differens, defference, defferense, dyfferens
- English: difference
- Scots: difference
- French: différence
difference From the web:
- what difference does it make
- what difference does it make lyrics
- what difference does it make tab
- what difference between medicare and medicaid
- what difference between the british and the quebecois
differentia
English
Etymology
From Latin differentia. Doublet of difference.
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /d?f????n???/
Noun
differentia (plural differentiae)
- (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?
- 1902, William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience, Folio Society 2008, p. 38:
See also
- criterion
- definiendum
Interlingua
Noun
differentia (plural differentias)
- 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
- difference
- diversity
Declension
First-declension noun.
Descendants
Participle
differentia
- nominative neuter plural of differ?ns
- accusative neuter plural of differ?ns
- 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
differentia From the web:
- what differentiates extension from hyperextension
- what differentiates data from information
- what differentiates muzzleloaders from other firearms
- what differentiates knarls from hedgehogs
- what differentiates the isotopes of an element
- what differentiates one protein from another
- what differentiates one element from another
- what differentiates one amino acid from another
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