difference definition - Dictionary

Dictionary

dif·fer·ence [ díffərənss, díffrənss ] (plural dif·fer·enc·es)

noun

Definition:

1. state of being unlike others: the quality of being different from or unlike something or somebody else

There's no real difference between going by train and going by car.

2. distinguishing feature: a feature that distinguishes one person or thing from another

Can you spot the differences between the two?

3. significant change: a change that has an effect

a noticeable difference in her moods

4. disagreement: a disagreement, argument, or divergence of opinions

settle our differences

5. mathematics answer to subtraction equation: the amount by which one quantity is greater or smaller than another

What's the difference between 16 and 6?

6. logic defining feature: a distinguishing feature that marks out a thing being defined or discussed from others that are more general

being divisible by two is the difference between even numbers and other whole numbers

make a difference to have a significant effect

make all the difference to have an enormous, usually positive, effect or influence

make no difference to be of no importance or not matter

split the difference to take the average of two amounts, or agree on something that is halfway between two extremes

tell the difference to distinguish or figure out the features that make things unlike each other

Word Usage


	difference or differentiation? These two words do not share a single meaning, so careful writers avoid using them interchangeably. Difference denotes the quality of being different or an instance of this. Differentiation denotes becoming different in the course of development. My paper explores the difference [not differentiation] between the world of the adult and the world of the child. Conversely, do not use difference when differentiation is called for: studied the history of the differentiation [not difference] of Latin into vernaculars.