Adjacent Words

Difference definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DIFFERENCE, n.
1. The state of being unlike or distinct; distinction; disagreement; want of sameness; variation; dissimilarity. Difference may be total or partial, and exist in the nature and essence of things, in the form, the qualities or degrees. There is a difference in nature between animals and plants; a difference in form between the genera and species of animals; a difference of quality in paper; and a difference in degrees of heat, or of light.
2. The quality which distinguishes one thing from another.
3. Dispute; debate; contention; quarrel; controversy.
What was the difference? It was a contention in public.
4. The point in dispute; ground of controversy.
5. A logical distinction.
6. Evidences or marks of distinction.
The marks and differences of sovereignty.
7. Distinction.
There is no difference between the Jew and the Greek. Romans 10.
8. In mathematics, the remainder of a sum or quantity, after a lesser sum or quantity is subtracted.
9. In logic, an essential attribute, belonging to some species, and not found in the genus; being the idea that defines the species.
10. In heraldry, a certain figure added to a coat of arms, serving to distinguish one family from another, or to show how distant a younger branch is from the elder or principal branch.
DIFFERENCE, v.t. To cause a difference or distinction. A regular administration of justice according to fixed laws differences a civilized from a savage state.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the quality of being unlike or dissimilar; "there are many differences between jazz and rock" [ant: sameness]
2: a variation that deviates from the standard or norm; "the deviation from the mean" [syn: deviation, divergence, departure, difference]
3: a disagreement or argument about something important; "he had a dispute with his wife"; "there were irreconcilable differences"; "the familiar conflict between Republicans and Democrats" [syn: dispute, difference, difference of opinion, conflict]
4: a significant change; "the difference in her is amazing"; "his support made a real difference"
5: the number that remains after subtraction; the number that when added to the subtrahend gives the minuend [syn: remainder, difference]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Date: 14th century 1. a. the quality or state of being different <the difference between right and wrong> b. an instance of differing in nature, form, or quality <noted the differences in color and texture> c. archaic a characteristic that distinguishes one from another or from the average d. the element or factor that separates or distinguishes contrasting situations 2. distinction or discrimination in preference <timing is often the difference between success and failure> 3. a. disagreement in opinion ; dissension b. an instance or cause of disagreement <unable to settle their differences> 4. the degree or amount by which things differ in quantity or measure; specifically remainder 2b(1) 5. a significant change in or effect on a situation <it makes no difference to me> II. transitive verb (-enced; -encing) Date: 1576 differentiate, distinguish

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 the state or condition of being different or unlike. 2 a point in which things differ; a distinction. 3 a degree of unlikeness. 4 a the quantity by which amounts differ; a deficit (will have to make up the difference). b the remainder left after subtraction. 5 a a disagreement, quarrel, or dispute. b the grounds of disagreement (put aside their differences). 6 Heraldry an alteration in a coat of arms distinguishing members of a family. --v.tr. Heraldry alter (a coat of arms) to distinguish members of a family. Phrases and idioms: make a (or all the etc.) difference (often foll. by to) have a significant effect or influence (on a person, situation, etc.). make no difference (often foll. by to) have no effect (on a person, situation, etc.). with a difference having a new or unusual feature. Etymology: ME f. OF f. L differentia (as DIFFERENT)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Difference Dif"fer*ence, n. [F. diff['e]rence, L. differentia.] 1. The act of differing; the state or measure of being different or unlike; distinction; dissimilarity; unlikeness; variation; as, a difference of quality in paper; a difference in degrees of heat, or of light; what is the difference between the innocent and the guilty? Differencies of administration, but the same Lord. --1 Cor. xii. 5. 2. Disagreement in opinion; dissension; controversy; quarrel; hence, cause of dissension; matter in controversy. What was the difference? It was a contention in public. --Shak. Away therefore went I with the constable, leaving the old warden and the young constable to compose their difference as they could. --T. Ellwood.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Difference Dif"fer*ence, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Differenced; p. pr. & vb. n. Differencing.] To cause to differ; to make different; to mark as different; to distinguish. Thou mayest difference gods from men. --Chapman. Kings, in receiving justice and undergoing trial, are not differenced from the meanest subject. --Milton. So completely differenced by their separate and individual characters that we at once acknowledge them as distinct persons. --Sir W. Scott.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(differences) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. The difference between two things is the way in which they are unlike each other. That is the fundamental difference between the two societies... ...the vast difference in size... N-COUNT: usu N prep 2. A difference between two quantities is the amount by which one quantity is less than the other. The difference is 8532. N-SING 3. If people have their differences about something, they disagree about it. The two communities are learning how to resolve their differences. N-COUNT: usu pl, oft poss N 4. If something makes a difference or makes a lot of difference, it affects you and helps you in what you are doing. If something makes no difference, it does not have any effect on what you are doing. Where you live can make such a difference to the way you feel... His retirement won't make any difference to the way we conduct our affairs. PHRASE: V inflects 5. If you split the difference with someone, you agree on an amount or price which is halfway between two suggested amounts or prices. Shall we split the difference and say $7,500? PHRASE: V inflects 6. If you describe a job or holiday, for example, as a job with a difference or a holiday with a difference, you mean that the job or holiday is very interesting and unusual. (INFORMAL) For a beach resort with a difference, try Key West. PHRASE: n PHR 7. If there is a difference of opinion between two or more people or groups, they disagree about something. Was there a difference of opinion over what to do with the Nobel Prize money? PHRASE: difference inflects

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Dissimilarity, variation, diversity, disparity, dissimilitude, divergence, deviation, contrariety, contrast, disagreement. 2. Disagreement, variance, alienation, misunderstanding, dissension, jarring, breach, rupture, schism, contest, contention, quarrel, dispute, debate, controversy, altercation, bickering, wrangle, strife, falling out. 3. Distinction, discrimination. 4. Remainder (after subtraction), amount of inequality.

Moby Thesaurus

aberrance, aberrancy, aberration, abnormality, abnormity, about-face, accommodation, account, achievement, adaptation, adjustment, aggregate, agreement to disagree, alerion, alienation, alteration, amelioration, amorphism, amount, animal charge, annulet, anomalism, anomalousness, anomaly, antagonism, apostasy, argent, argument, argumentation, armorial bearings, armory, arms, asymmetry, azure, bad copy, bad likeness, balance, bandeau, bar, bar sinister, baton, bearings, bend, bend sinister, betterment, billet, blazon, blazonry, bordure, box score, break, broad arrow, cadency mark, camouflage, canton, capriciousness, cast, change, change of heart, changeability, changeableness, chaplet, character, characteristic, charge, chevron, chief, choppiness, clash, clashing, coat of arms, cockatrice, conflict, constructive change, contention, continuity, contradiction, contradistinction, contrariety, contrast, controversy, conversion, coronet, count, counter-culture, credit, crescent, crest, cross, cross moline, cross-purposes, crown, dappleness, defection, deficit, degeneration, degenerative change, derangement, deterioration, deviation, device, difference of opinion, differencing, differentiate, differentiation, difficulty, disaccord, disaccordance, disagreement, disapprobation, disapproval, discern, discontinuity, discord, discordance, discordancy, discrepancy, discriminate, disequilibrium, disguise, disharmony, disorder, disparity, disproportion, dispute, dissatisfaction, dissemblance, dissension, dissent, dissentience, dissidence, dissimilarity, dissimilation, dissimilitude, dissonance, distinction, distinguish, disunion, disunity, divarication, divergence, divergency, diversification, diversion, diversity, dividedness, division, dropping out, eagle, eccentricity, epact, ermine, ermines, erminites, erminois, erraticism, escutcheon, extricate, faction, falcon, fess, fess point, field, file, fitting, flanch, fleur-de-lis, flip-flop, fret, fur, fusil, garland, gradual change, griffin, gules, gyron, hatchment, helmet, heraldic device, heterogeneity, heteromorphism, honor point, idiosyncrasy, imbalance, impalement, impaling, improvement, inaccordance, inadequacy, incommensurability, incomparability, incongruity, inconsistency, inconstancy, inequality, inequity, inescutcheon, inferiority, injustice, instability, insufficiency, irregularity, jarring, jerkiness, label, leftovers, lion, lozenge, makeup, mantling, marshaling, martlet, mascle, melioration, mercuriality, mere caricature, metal, metamorphosis, minority opinion, misunderstanding, mitigation, modification, modulation, monstrosity, motleyness, motto, mullet, mutability, nature, negation, net, nombril point, nonagreement, nonassent, nonconcurrence, nonconformism, nonconformity, nonconsent, nonstandardization, nonuniformity, number, octofoil, odds, opposition, oppugnancy, or, ordinary, orle, otherness, overbalance, overthrow, pale, paly, pean, peculiarity, pheon, polarization, poor imitation, product, purpure, qualification, quantity, quarrel, quarter, quartering, radical change, raggedness, re-creation, realignment, reckoning, recusance, recusancy, redesign, reform, reformation, rejection, remainder, remaking, renewal, repudiation, repugnance, reshaping, rest, restructuring, reversal, revival, revivification, revolution, rose, sable, saltire, score, scutcheon, secession, separate, sever, severalize, shield, shift, shortcoming, spread eagle, strife, subnormality, subordinary, sudden change, sum, summation, superiority, surplus, switch, tale, tally, tenne, teratism, the bottom line, the story, the whole story, tincture, torse, total, total change, transformation, transition, tressure, turn, turnabout, unbalance, unconformism, unconformity, underground, unevenness, unfair discrimination, unharmoniousness, unicorn, unlikeness, unnaturalism, unnaturalness, unorthodoxy, unresemblance, unsameness, unsimilarity, unsteadiness, upheaval, vair, variability, variance, variation, variegation, variety, variousness, versatility, vert, violent change, wavering, whole, withdrawal, worsening, wreath, x number, yale