different

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

English

Etymology

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

Broadly ousted the native Old English ungelic.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈdɪfəɹ(ə)nt/, /ˈdɪfɹənt/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈdɪfəɹənt/, /ˈdɪfɹənt/
• Hyphenation: dif‧fer‧ent

Adjective

different (comparative more different, superlative most different)

2. 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.
4. Various, assorted, diverse.
5. Distinct, separate; used for emphasis after numbers and other determiners of quantity.

6. 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; 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

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

Derived terms

Related terms

• differ
• difference
• differentiate
• indifferent

Descendants

• → Jersey Dutch: dääfrent

Translations

Noun

different (plural differents)

1. (mathematics) The different ideal.

Adverb

different (comparative more different, superlative most different)

1. Differently.

Derived terms

Further reading

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

German

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin differēns.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [dɪfəˈʁɛnt]
• Hyphenation: dif‧fe‧rent

Adjective

different (strong nominative masculine singular differenter, comparative differenter, superlative am differentesten)

1. different

Declension

Further reading

• “different” in Duden online
• “different” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Latin

Verb

different

1. third-person plural future active indicative of differō

Middle English

Alternative forms

• dyfferent

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdifɛrɛnt/, /diˈfɛrɛnt/

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.