differentia

See also: différentia

English

Etymology

From Latin differentia. Doublet of difference.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /dɪfəˈɹɛnʃɪə/

Noun

differentia (plural differentiae)

1. (logic, semantics, taxonomy) A distinguishing feature which marks a species off from other members of the same genus.
   • 1902, William James, “Lecture II: Circumscription of the Topic”, in The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature […] , New York, N.Y.; London: Longmans, Green, and Co. […], →OCLC, page 45:

     That character, it seems to me, should be regarded as the practically important differentia of religion for our purpose; and just what it is can easily be brought out by comparing the mind of an abstractly conceived Christian with that of a moralist similarly conceived.

   • 1928, E. M. Edghill, Categories, translation of original by Aristotle:

     If genera are different and co-ordinate, their differentiae are themselves different in kind. Take as an instance the genus ‘animal’ and the genus ‘knowledge’. ‘With feet’, ‘two-footed’, ‘winged’, ‘aquatic’, are differentiae of ‘animal’; the species of knowledge are not distinguished by the same differentiae.

   • 2017, Kory Stamper, Word By Word, Vintage, published 2018, page 116:

     In the case of a word like “surfboard,” the differentiae seem pretty clear. How is this board different from all other boards?

See also

• criterion
• definiendum

Interlingua

Noun

differentia (plural differentias)

1. difference

Latin

Etymology

From differens +‎ -ia.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /dif.feˈren.ti.a/, [d̪ɪfːɛˈrɛn̪t̪iä]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /dif.feˈren.t͡si.a/, [d̪ifːeˈrɛnt̪͡s̪iä]

Noun

differentia f (genitive differentiae); first declension

1. difference
2. diversity

Declension

First-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	differentia	differentiae
Genitive	differentiae	differentiārum
Dative	differentiae	differentiīs
Accusative	differentiam	differentiās
Ablative	differentiā	differentiīs
Vocative	differentia	differentiae

Descendants

• → Catalan: diferència
• → Czech: diference
• → Galician: diferenza
• → Italian: differenza
• → Occitan: diferéncia
• → Old French: difference
  • → French: différence
  • → Middle English: difference
    • English: difference
• → Portuguese: diferença
• → Romanian: diferență
• → Spanish: diferencia

Participle

differentia

1. nominative/accusative/vocative neuter plural of differēns

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 with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• differentia in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.