difference
/ˈdɪf.(ə.)ɹəns/
Word Rarity
Common
Frequency: 5.01 in modern English
19
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
An addition to a coat of arms to distinguish two people's bearings which would otherwise be the same. See augmentation and cadency.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
The quality or attribute which is added to those of the genus to constitute a species; a differentia.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "You need to learn to be more tolerant of difference."
- "There are three differences between these two pictures."
- "But poverty’s scourge is fiercest below $1.25 (the average of the 15 poorest countries’ own poverty lines, measured in 2005 dollars and adjusted for differences in purchasing power): people below that level live lives that are poor, nasty, brutish and short."
- "We have our little differences, but we are firm friends."
- "What was the difference? It was a contention in public."
- "Away therefore went I with the constable, leaving the old warden and the young constable to compose their difference as they could."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ ▲ Proto-Indo-European *trísinflu. Proto-Indo-European *d(w)is- Proto-Italic *dis- Latin dis- Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- Proto-Indo-European *-eti Proto-Indo-European *bʰéreti Proto-Italic *ferō Latin ferō Latin differō Latin differēns Proto-Indo-European *-(i)yós Proto-Italic *-ijos Proto-Italic *-ios Old Latin -ios Latin -ius Latin -ia Latin differentiader. Old French differencebor. Middle English difference English difference From Middle English difference, from Old French difference, from Latin differentia (“difference”), from differēns (“different”), present participle of differre. Doublet of differentia. Morphologically differ + -ence.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: difference, differentia
- Suffix: differ
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈdɪf.(ə.)ɹəns/
- British English: /ˈdɪf.(ə.)ɹəns/