difference

English Online Dictionary. What means difference‎? What does difference mean?

English

Etymology

From Middle English difference, from Old French difference, from Latin differentia (“difference”), from differēns (“different”), present participle of differre. Doublet of differentia.

Morphologically differ +‎ -ence.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdɪf(ə)ɹəns/
• Hyphenation: diffe‧rence, dif‧fer‧ence

Noun

difference (countable and uncountable, plural differences)

1. (uncountable) The quality of being different.

   Antonyms: identity, sameness

2. (countable) A characteristic of something that makes it different from something else.
3. (countable) A disagreement or argument.
4. (countable, uncountable) Significant change in or effect on a situation or state.
6. (countable) The result of a subtraction; sometimes the absolute value of this result.

7. (obsolete) Choice; preference.
8. (heraldry) An addition to a coat of arms to distinguish two people's bearings which would otherwise be the same. See augmentation and cadency.
9. (logic) The quality or attribute which is added to those of the genus to constitute a species; a differentia.
10. (logic circuits) A Boolean operation which is true when the two input variables are different but is otherwise false; the XOR operation (${displaystyle \scriptstyle A{overline }+{overline }B}$).
11. (relational algebra) The set of elements that are in one set but not another (${displaystyle \scriptstyle A{overline }}$).

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

Other terms used in arithmetic operations:

Advanced hyperoperations: tetration, pentation, hexation

Verb

difference (third-person singular simple present differences, present participle differencing, simple past and past participle differenced)

1. (obsolete, transitive) To distinguish or differentiate.

Synonyms

• (to distinguish or differentiate): differentiate, distinguish

Translations

Related terms

Further reading

• “difference”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “difference”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Middle English

Alternative forms

• differens, defference, defferense, dyfferens

Etymology

From Old French difference, from Latin differēntia; equivalent to differren (“to postpone”) +‎ -ence.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdifɛrɛns(ə)/, /diˈfɛrɛns(ə)/

Noun

difference (plural differences or difference)

1. Difference; the state of being different.
2. A difference; an element which separates.
3. Distinguishment; the finding or creation of dissimilarity.
4. (heraldry, rare) A heraldic cadency for a family's junior branch.
5. (mathematics, rare) The result of subtraction; an amount left over.
6. (mathematics, rare) An order in decimal representation of numbers.
7. (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 oblique singular, f (oblique plural differences, nominative singular difference, nominative plural differences)

1. difference

Descendants

• → Middle English: difference, differens, defference, defferense, dyfferens
  • English: difference
  • Scots: difference
• French: différence