differentia
See also: différentia
English edit
Etymology edit
From Latin differentia. Doublet of difference.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
differentia (plural differentiae)
- (semantics, logic, taxonomy) A distinguishing feature which marks a species off from other members of the same genus.
- 1902, William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience […] [1], London: Folio Society, published 2008, page 38:
- That character, it seems to me, should be regarded as the practically important differentia of religion for our purpose.
- 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 edit
Interlingua edit
Noun edit
differentia (plural differentias)
Latin edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
- (Classical) IPA(key): /dif.feˈren.ti.a/, [d̪ɪfːɛˈrɛn̪t̪iä]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /dif.feˈren.t͡si.a/, [d̪ifːeˈrɛnt̪͡s̪iä]
Noun edit
differentia f (genitive differentiae); first declension
Declension edit
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 edit
- → 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 edit
differentia
References edit
- “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.