differ

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈdɪfə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈdɪfɚ/

• Audio (GA)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪfə(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: dif‧fer

Etymology 1

From Middle English differren, from Old French differer, from Latin differō (“carry apart, put off, defer; differ”), from dis- (“apart”) + ferō (“carry, bear”). Compare Ancient Greek διαφέρω (diaphérō). Doublet of defer (etymology 1).

Verb

differ (third-person singular simple present differs, present participle differing, simple past and past participle differed)

1. (intransitive) Not to have the same traits or characteristics; to be unalike or distinct.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:differ

   These shoes only differ from those ones in having slightly longer laces.

2. (intransitive, people, groups, etc.) To have diverging opinions, disagree.
   • May 11, 1827, George Canning, Changes in the Administration

     I differ from the honourable baronet on both these subjects

3. (intransitive) To be separated in quantity.

   The numbers 3 and 21 differ by 18.

Derived terms

• agree to differ
• beg to differ
• your mileage may differ

Related terms

• difference
• different
• differential
• differentiate
• differentiation
• differently
• indifference
• indifferent
• indifferently

 

Translations

not to have the same characteristics

• Arabic: اِخْتَلَفَ‎ (iḵtalafa)
• Bulgarian: различа́вам се (bg) (različávam se)
• Catalan: diferir (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 不同 (zh) (bùtóng), 差別／差别 (zh) (chābié), 不一樣／不一样 (zh) (bù yīyàng)

• Czech: lišit se
• Danish:være forskellig(e) (da)
• Dutch: verschillen (nl), afwijken (nl)
• Esperanto: malsimili, diferenci
• Finnish: erota (fi)
• French: différer (fr)
• Galician: diferir (gl)
• German: sich unterscheiden (de), abweichen (de), differieren (de), verschieden sein, nicht übereinstimmen
• Greek: διαφέρω (el) (diaféro)

  Ancient: διαφέρω (diaphérō)

• Hungarian: különbözik (hu)
• Ido: diferar (io)
• Indonesian: beda (id), berbeda (id), berlainan (id)
• Italian: differire (it), essere differente, essere diverso
• Japanese: 異なる (ja) (ことなる, kotonaru), 違う (ja) (ちがう, chigau)
• Korean: 다르다 (ko) (dareuda)
• Latin: differō (la)
• Maori: horo
• Middle English: differren
• Polish: różnić się (pl)
• Portuguese: diferir (pt)
• Russian: отлича́ться (ru) impf (otličátʹsja), отличи́ться (ru) pf (otličítʹsja), различа́ться (ru) impf (različátʹsja), различи́ться (ru) pf (različítʹsja)
• Serbo-Croatian: razlikovati se (sh)
• Spanish: diferir (es)
• Swedish: vara olik(a) (sv), skilja sig åt
• Ukrainian: відрізня́тися (vidriznjátysja), різни́тися (riznýtysja)
• Vietnamese: khác (vi), không giống (vi)
• West Frisian: ferskille

to have diverging opinions, disagree

• Arabic: اِخْتَلَفَ‎ (iḵtalafa)
• Bulgarian: не съм съгласен (ne sǎm sǎglasen)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 异议 (zh) (yì yì)

• Danish: være uenig(e)
• Dutch: verschillen (nl)
• French: différer (fr)
• Galician: diverxer
• German: unterschiedlicher Meinung sein, sich uneinig sein, streiten (de), verschiedener Meinung sein, anderer Meinung sein, uneinig werden (de)
• Greek: διαφέρω (el) (diaféro)

  Ancient: διαφέρω (diaphérō)

• Ido: diferar (io)
• Ngazidja Comorian: ukhitalifiana
• Polish: nie zgadzać się, mieć inne zdanie
• Portuguese: divergir (pt)
• Russian: расходи́ться во мне́ниях (rasxodítʹsja vo mnénijax)
• Spanish: diferir (es)
• Swahili: kukhitalifiana
• Swedish: ha en avvikande uppfattning, tycka annorlunda, vara av en annan mening

Etymology 2

From diff +‎ -er.

Noun

differ (plural differs)

1. (computing) A program that diffs, a diff.

   Synonym: diff

Further reading

• differ in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
• differ in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913

Anagrams

• riffed

Latin

Verb

differ

1. second-person singular present active imperative of differō