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English
Etymology
Proto-Indo-European *-eti English difference 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
Noun
difference (countable and uncountable, plural differences)
- (uncountable) The quality of being different.
- Antonyms: identity, sameness
You need to learn to be more tolerant of difference.
- (countable) A characteristic of something that makes it different from something else.
There are three differences between these two pictures.
2013 June 1, “Towards the end of poverty”, in The Economist[1], volume 407, number 8838, London: The Economist Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 11:But poverty’s scourge is fiercest below $1.25 (the average of the 15 poorest countries’ own poverty lines, measured in 2005 dollars and adjusted for differences in purchasing power): people below that level live lives that are poor, nasty, brutish and short.- (Can we archive this URL?)
- (countable) A disagreement or argument.
We have our little differences, but we are firm friends.
1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene v]:What was the difference? It was a contention in public.
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.
It just won't make much difference to me. It just won't make much of a difference to anyone.
1908 October, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC: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.
1967, Barbara Sleigh, Jessamy, Sevenoaks, Kent: Bloomsbury, published 1993, →ISBN, page 105:As she did so Fanny put down her book , stood up and stretched her arms, and at once Jessamy noticed a difference. It was the same Fanny but not the Fanny who climbed trees and tore her frock playing in the garden. It was as though a young lady film had settled over her, neatening her unruly hair, which was tied back with a large black bow, and primly composing her small mouth.
- (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
Derived terms
Translations
quality of being different
- Afrikaans: verskil (af)
- Albanian: ndryshim (sq) m
- Arabic: فَرْق m (farq), اِخْتِلَاف m (iḵtilāf), تَفَاوُت m (tafāwut)
- Hijazi Arabic: فرق m (farg), اختلاف m (iḵtilāf)
- Moroccan Arabic: فْرق m (frəq)
- South Levantine Arabic: فارق (fāreq), فرق (farq)
- Armenian: տարբերություն (hy) (tarberutʻyun)
- Azerbaijani: fərq (az), təfavüt
- Baluchi: پرک (park), فرق (farq)
- Bashkir: айырма (ayïrma)
- Belarusian: ро́зніца f (róznica)
- Bengali: পার্থক্য (bn) (parthokko), তফাত (bn) (tophat)
- Bhojpuri: अंतर (antar)
- Bulgarian: ра́злика (bg) f (rázlika), разли́чност f (razlíčnost)
- Burmese: ခြားနားချက် (my) (hkra:na:hkyak)
- Catalan: diferència (ca) f
- Cebuano: kalahian
- Chechen: башхо (bašxo)
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 差別 / 差别 (zh) (chābié), 差異 / 差异 (zh) (chāyì)
- Crimean Tatar: farq, ayırma
- Czech: rozdíl (cs) m
- Danish: forskel (da) c
- Dutch: verschil (nl) n
- Esperanto: malsameco, diferenco, (please verify) malsamo
- Estonian: erinevus (et)
- Ewe: vovototo
- Faroese: munur m
- Finnish: erilaisuus (fi)
- French: différence (fr) f
- Galician: diferenza (gl) f
- Georgian: განსხვავებულობა (gansxvavebuloba)
- German: Unterschied (de) m, Unterscheidung (de) f, Andersartigkeit (de) f, Anderssein n
- Gothic: 𐌲𐌰𐍃𐌺𐌰𐌹𐌳𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍃 f (gaskaideins)
- Greek: διαφορά (el) f (diaforá)
- Ancient Greek: διαφορά f (diaphorá)
- Hebrew: שוני / שֹׁנִי m (shóni), הֶבְדֵּל (he) m (hevdél)
- Hindi: अंतर (hi) m (antar), भेद (hi) m (bhed), फ़र्क़ m (farq), प्रभेद (hi) m (prabhed), अवकल m (avkal)
- Hungarian: különbség (hu)
- Icelandic: munur (is) m
- Ido: difero (io)
- Indonesian: perbedaan (id)
- Irish: difear m
- Italian: differenza (it) f
- Japanese: 違い (ja) (ちがい, chigai), 差異 (ja) (さい, sai)
- Javanese:
- Old Javanese: bheda
- Kannada: ವ್ಯತ್ಯಾಸ (kn) (vyatyāsa)
- Kazakh: айырма (ayırma), айырмашылық (ayırmašılıq)
- Khmer: ត្រកាល (km) (trɑkaal), ចំឡែក (cɑmlaek), ប្លែក (km) (plaek), ពិសេស (km) (pisaeh), វិសេស (km) (visaeh), អញ្ញត្រ (km) (ʼaññat)
- Korean: 차이(差異) (ko) (chai), 다름 (ko) (dareum)
- Kurdish:
- Central Kurdish: جیاوازی (cyawazî)
- Kyrgyz: айырма (ky) (ayırma)
- Lao: ຄວາມແຕກຕ່າງ (khuām tǣk tāng)
- Latin: differentia (la) f
- Latvian: atšķirība f, starpība f
- Lithuanian: skirtumas (lt) m
- Luxembourgish: Ënnerscheed m
- Macedonian: различност f (različnost)
- Malay: beza
- Malayalam: വ്യത്യാസം (ml) (vyatyāsaṁ)
- Marathi: फरक m (pharak), वेगळेपण n (vegḷepaṇ)
- Mauritian Creole: diferans
- Middle English: difference
- Mongolian:
- Cyrillic: ялгаа (mn) (jalgaa)
- Nepali: फरक (pharak), अन्तर (ne) (antar)
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål: forskjell (no) m, skilnad (no) m, differanse m
- Occitan: diferéncia (oc) f
- Odia: ପ୍ରଭେଦ (or) (prabheda)
- Old English: unġelīcnes f
- Pashto: پرخ (ps) m (parx), اختلاف (ps) m (extelãf), تفاوت (ps) m (tafāwót)
- Persian:
- Iranian Persian: فَرْق (fa) (farġ), تَفاوُت (fa) (tafâvot), اِخْتِلاف (fa) (extelâf)
- Polish: różnica (pl) f
- Portuguese: diferença (pt) f
- Romanian: diferență (ro) f
- Russian: разли́чие (ru) n (razlíčije), отли́чие (ru) n (otlíčije), ра́зница (ru) f (ráznica)
- Samoan: 'ese'esega
- Scottish Gaelic: caochladh m, diofar m, eadar-dhealachadh m
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: ра́злика f
- Latin: rázlika (sh) f
- Slovak: rozdiel m
- Slovene: različnost f
- Spanish: diferencia (es) f, discrimen m
- Swahili: tofauti (sw)
- Swedish: avvikelse (sv) c, differens (sv) c, skillnad (sv) c, olikhet (sv) c
- Tabasaran: тафавут (tafavut)
- Tagalog: pagkakaiba
- Tajik: фарқ (farq), тафовут (tafovut), ихтилоф (ixtilof)
- Tamil: வித்தியாசம் (ta) (vittiyācam), வேறுபாடு (ta) (vēṟupāṭu)
- Tatar: аерма (tt) (ayırma)
- Telugu: భేదము (te) (bhēdamu)
- Thai: ความต่าง (th) (kwaam-dtàang)
- Turkish: fark (tr), ayrım (tr)
- Turkmen: parh, tapawut
- Ukrainian: різни́ця (uk) f (riznýcja)
- Urdu: فَرْق m (farq), اَنْتَر m (antar)
- Uyghur: ئايرىما (ayrima), پەرق (perq)
- Uzbek: tafovut (uz), farq (uz), ayirma (uz), ixtilof (uz)
- Vietnamese: sự khác nhau (vi)
- Walloon: diferince (wa) f
- Yiddish: אונטערשייד m (untersheyd)
- Yucatec Maya: hela’anil
- Zazaki: entar, ferq, ca (diq) c
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characteristic of something that makes it different from something else
- Albanian: veçorite
- Arabic: فَرْق m (farq), فُرُوق m pl (furūq)
- Armenian: please add this translation if you can
- Bashkir: айырма (ayïrma)
- Basque: alde
- Bengali: তফাত (bn) (tophat)
- Bulgarian: разли́чие (bg) n (razlíčie)
- Catalan: diferència (ca) f
- Cebuano: kalahian, diperensiya
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 差別 / 差别 (zh) (chābié), 差異 / 差异 (zh) (chāyì)
- Crimean Tatar: farq
- Czech: rozdíl (cs) m
- Danish: forskel (da) c
- Dutch: verschil (nl) n, onderscheid (nl) n
- Esperanto: malsameco, diferenco, malsamo
- Estonian: erinevus (et), erisus, vahe
- Ewe: vovototo
- Finnish: ero (fi), eroavaisuus (fi)
- French: différence (fr) f
- Georgian: განსხვავება (gansxvaveba)
- German: Unterschied (de) m, Differenz (de) f
- Greek: διαφορά (el) f (diaforá)
- Ancient Greek: διαφορά f (diaphorá)
- Hebrew: הֶבְדֵּל (he) m (hevdél)
- Hindi: विशेषता (hi) f (viśeṣtā), प्रभेद (hi) m (prabhed)
- Hungarian: különbség (hu)
- Ido: difero (io)
- Indonesian: perbedaan (id)
- Irish: difríocht f
- Italian: differenza (it) f
- Japanese: 違い (ja) (ちがい, chigai),
- Khmer: វិជាតិ (km) (viciət)
- Korean: 다름 (ko) (dareum), 차이(差異) (ko) (chai)
- Latin: differentia (la) f
- Latvian: atšķirība f, starpība f
- Lithuanian: skirtumas (lt) m
- Macedonian: разлика f (razlika)
- Malayalam: വ്യത്യാസം (ml) (vyatyāsaṁ)
- Middle English: difference
- Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål: forskjell (no) m, differanse m
- Nynorsk: skilnad m, forskjell m, differanse m
- Old English: unġelīcnes f
- Polish: różnica (pl) f
- Portuguese: diferença (pt) f
- Romanian: diferență (ro) f
- Russian: отличи́тельная черта́ f (otličítelʹnaja čertá), разли́чие (ru) n (razlíčije)
- Sanskrit: विशेष (sa) m (viśeṣa)
- Scottish Gaelic: diofar m, eadar-dhealachadh m
- Slovene: razlika (sl) f
- Spanish: diferencia (es) f, discrimen m
- Swedish: avvikelse (sv) c, differens (sv) c, skillnad (sv) c, olikhet (sv) c
- Tatar: әһәмиятле үзенчәлек (ähämiyätle üzençälek)
- Telugu: తేడా (te) (tēḍā)
- Thai: ความต่าง (th) (kwaam-dtàang)
- Tocharian B: wakītsñe
- Turkish: fark (tr)
- Vietnamese: sự khác biệt, sự khác nhau
- Walloon: adire (wa) m, diferince (wa) f
- Yiddish: חילוק m (khilek), אונטערשייד m (untersheyd)
- Yucatec Maya: hela’anil
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disagreement or argument about something important arithmetic: result of a subtraction
- Arabic: فَرْق m (farq)
- Armenian: մնացորդ (hy) (mnacʻord)
- Asturian: diferencia f, resta (ast) f
- Azerbaijani: fərq (az)
- Bashkir: айырма (ayïrma)
- Belarusian: ро́зніца f (róznica)
- Bulgarian: ра́злика (bg) f (rázlika)
- Catalan: diferència (ca) f
- Cebuano: iban
- Czech: rozdíl (cs) m
- Danish: differens c
- Dutch: verschil (nl) n
- Esperanto: diferenco
- Estonian: vahe
- Finnish: erotus (fi)
- French: différence (fr) f
- Galician: diferenza (gl) f
- Georgian: სხვაობა (sxvaoba)
- German: Differenz (de) f
- Greek: διαφορά (el) f (diaforá)
- Hebrew: הֶפְרֵשׁ (he) m (hefrésh)
- Hindi: भेद (hi) m (bhed), अवकल m (avkal)
- Icelandic: mismunur m
- Ido: difero (io)
- Indonesian: selisih (id)
- Irish: difríocht f
- Italian: differenza (it) f
- Japanese: 差 (ja) (さ, sa)
- Khmer: នានត្ត (niənat)
- Korean: 차(差) (ko) (cha), 차이(差異) (ko) (chai)
- Lao: ຜົນລັບ (phon lap)
- Macedonian: разлика f (razlika)
- Māori: huatango
- Middle English: difference
- Persian:
- Iranian Persian: اِخْتِلاف (fa) (extelâf), تَفاضُل (fa) (tafâzol)
- Polish: różnica (pl) f
- Portuguese: diferença (pt) f, resto (pt) m
- Romanian: diferență (ro) f
- Russian: ра́зность (ru) f (ráznostʹ), ра́зница (ru) f (ráznica)
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: ра́злика f
- Latin: rázlika (sh) f
- Slovene: razlika (sl) f
- Spanish: diferencia (es) f
- Swedish: differens (sv) c, skillnad (sv) c
- Tagalog: kaibhan
- Telugu: భేదము (te) (bhēdamu)
- Thai: ผลต่าง (pǒn-dtàang)
- Turkish: fark (tr), kalan (tr)
- Ukrainian: рі́зниця (uk) f (ríznycja)
- Vietnamese: hiệu số (vi), hiệu (vi)
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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)
- (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.
1901 [1839], Philip James Bailey, Festus: A Poem, London: George Routledge & Sons, page 10:[…] and souls, like in the mass, but differenced in themselves, with special gifts, duties and joys […]
1904, Arthur Charles Fox-Davies, The Art of Heraldry: An Encyclopædia of Armory, London: T.C. & E.C. Jack, page 344:In the Calais Roll the arms of William de Warren […] are differenced by the addition of a canton said to be that of Fitzalan […]
- (heraldry) to modify a heraldic emblem so as to distinguish one branch of a house from another
Synonyms
Translations
to distinguish or differentiate Related terms
Further reading
- “difference”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “difference”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
Middle English
Alternative forms
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)
- 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
References
Old French
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Latin differentia.
Noun
difference oblique singular, f (oblique plural differences, nominative singular difference, nominative plural differences)
- difference
Descendants
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