Adjacent Words

differentiation definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a discrimination between things as different and distinct; "it is necessary to make a distinction between love and infatuation" [syn: differentiation, distinction]
2: the mathematical process of obtaining the derivative of a function
3: (biology) the structural adaptation of some body part for a particular function; "cell differentiation in the developing embryo" [syn: specialization, specialisation, differentiation]

Merriam Webster's

noun Date: 1802 1. the act or process of differentiating 2. development from the one to the many, the simple to the complex, or the homogeneous to the heterogeneous 3. a. modification of body parts for performance of particular functions b. the sum of the processes whereby apparently indifferent or unspecialized cells, tissues, and structures attain their adult form and function 4. the processes by which various rock types are produced from a common magma

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Differentiation Dif`fer*en`ti*a"tion, n. 1. The act of differentiating. Further investigation of the Sanskrit may lead to differentiation of the meaning of such of these roots as are real roots. --J. Peile. 2. (Logic) The act of distinguishing or describing a thing, by giving its different, or specific difference; exact definition or determination. 3. (Biol.) The gradual formation or production of organs or parts by a process of evolution or development, as when the seed develops the root and the stem, the initial stem develops the leaf, branches, and flower buds; or in animal life, when the germ evolves the digestive and other organs and members, or when the animals as they advance in organization acquire special organs for specific purposes. 4. (Metaph.) The supposed act or tendency in being of every kind, whether organic or inorganic, to assume or produce a more complex structure or functions.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

see differentiate

Moby Thesaurus

addition, alteration, analysis, anatomization, approximation, atomization, capriciousness, change, changeability, changeableness, characterization, choppiness, contradistinction, dappleness, definition, demarcation, denomination, denotation, description, designation, desynonymization, deviation, difference, differencing, differentness, disclosure, discrimination, disequalization, disjunction, disorder, distinction, distinctiveness, distinguishment, divarication, divergence, diversification, division, egohood, equation, evolution, expression, extrapolation, fingering, hairsplitting, hint, human factor, identification, identity, inconsistency, inconstancy, indication, indicativeness, individualism, individuality, individualization, individuation, inequality, instability, integration, integrity, interpolation, inversion, involution, irregularity, jerkiness, manifestation, meaning, mercuriality, microscopic distinction, modification, motleyness, multiplication, mutability, naming, nice distinction, nominalism, nonconformism, nonconformity, nonstandardization, nonuniformity, notation, nuance, oneness, particularism, particularity, particularization, personal equation, personal identity, personality, personalization, personship, picking out, pluralism, pointing, pointing out, pointing to, practice, proportion, raggedness, reduction, segregation, selection, self-identity, selfhood, selfness, separation, severalization, severance, shade of difference, show, showing, signification, singularity, soul, specialization, specification, subtle distinction, subtraction, suggestion, symptomaticness, transformation, trichoschistism, unconformism, unconformity, unevenness, uniqueness, unorthodoxy, unsteadiness, variability, variation, variegation, variety, variousness, versatility, wavering