different between different vs singular

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.

English

Alternative forms

• sing., sg., sg (abbreviation)

Etymology

From Middle English singuler, borrowed from Old French, from Latin singul?ris (“alone of its kind”), from Latin singulus (“single”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?s???j?l?/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?s???j?l?/

Adjective

singular (comparative more singular, superlative most singular)

1. Being only one of a larger population.

   Synonym: individual

   Antonym: general

2. Being the only one of the kind; unique.

   • The busts […] of the emperors and empresses are all very scarce, and some of them almost singular in their kind.

   • And God forbid that all a company / Should rue a singular manne's folly.

   • 1620, Francis Bacon, Novum Organum

     singular instances

   Synonym: unique

3. Distinguished by superiority: peerless, unmatched, eminent, exceptional, extraordinary.

   Synonyms: exceptional, extraordinary, remarkable

4. Out of the ordinary; curious.
   • 1641, John Denham, The Sophy

     So singular a sadness / Must have a cause as strange as the effect.

   Synonyms: curious, eccentric, funny, odd, peculiar, rum, rummy, strange, unusual

5. (grammar) Referring to only one thing or person.

   Antonym: plural

6. (linear algebra, of matrix) Having no inverse.

   Synonym: non-invertible

   Antonyms: invertible, non-singular

7. (linear algebra, of transformation) Having the property that the matrix of coefficients of the new variables has a determinant equal to zero.
8. (set theory, of a cardinal number) Not equal to its own cofinality.
9. (law) Each; individual.

10. (obsolete) Engaged in by only one on a side; single.

    • Thus made he an end, and the two princes allowed well of his last motion, and so order was taken, that they should fight togither in a singular combat

Synonyms

• (being only one): see also Thesaurus:specific
• (being the only one of a kind): see also Thesaurus:unique
• (being out of the ordinary): see also Thesaurus:strange

Antonyms

• (being only one): see also Thesaurus:generic

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

singular (plural singulars)

1. (grammar) A form of a word that refers to only one person or thing.

   Antonym: plural

2. (logic) That which is not general; a specific determinate instance.

Derived terms

• singulare tantum

Related terms

• plural

Translations

See also

• (grammatical numbers) grammatical number; singular, dual, trial, quadral, paucal, plural ^{(Category: en:Grammar)}

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• rail guns, railguns

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin singul?ris. Doublet of senglar.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /si?.?u?la/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /si?.?u?la?/

Adjective

singular (masculine and feminine plural singulars)

1. singular

   Antonym: plural

Derived terms

• singularment

Related terms

Galician

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin singul?ris.

Adjective

singular m or f (plural singulares)

1. (grammar) singular

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin singul?ris. Doublet of senheiro.

Adjective

singular m or f (plural singulares, comparable)

1. singular (being the only one of a kind)

   Synonym: único

2. (grammar) singular (referring to only one thing)

   Antonym: plural

Derived terms

• singularmente

Related terms

• singularidade

Noun

singular m (plural singulares)

1. (grammar) singular (form of a word that refers to only one thing)

   Antonym: plural

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin singul?ris.

Noun

s?ngul?r m (Cyrillic spelling ??????????)

1. singular

   Synonym: jednìna

Declension

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin singul?ris. Doublet of señero.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sin?u?la?/, [s??.?u?la?]

Adjective

singular (plural singulares)

1. singular

   Antonym: plural

2. odd, peculiar

Derived terms

• singularmente

Related terms

• singularidad

Noun

singular m (plural singulares)

1. singular

   Antonym: plural

Further reading

• “singular” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.