different
English
Etymology
Etymology tree
From Middle English different, from Old French different, from Latin differēns, present active participle of differō (“to differ”). See also differ. Mostly supplanted native Old English ungelic in common usage, which lives on as unalike in Modern English.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation, Australia, General South African) IPA(key): /ˈdɪf.ə.ɹənt/, /ˈdɪf.ɹənt/
- (General American, Canada) IPA(key): /ˈdɪf.ɚ.ənt/, /ˈdɪf.ɹənt/
Audio (General American): (file)
- Hyphenation: dif‧fer‧ent
Adjective
different (comparative more different, superlative most different)
- Not the same; exhibiting a difference.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:different
- Antonyms: undifferent; see also Thesaurus:similar
- — Is your grandpa any better?
— No different. Still ill.
- 1886, Thomas Hardy, The Mayor of Casterbridge:
- At Elizabeth-Jane mentioning how greatly Lucetta had been jeopardized, he exhibited an agitation different in kind no less than in intensity from any she had seen in him before.
- 1915, Edward Knobel, Ptolemy's Catalogue of Stars – A Revision of the Almagest, page 14 (showing that "to" was used by an Englishman in 1915)
- One interesting feature was remarked by Dr. Peters, viz.: that the instrument used for the longitudes of the original catalogue was graduated differently to that used for the latitudes.
- 1971, William S. Burroughs, The Wild Boys: A Book of the Dead, page 6:
- Enter the American tourist. He thinks of himself as a good guy but when he looks in the mirror to shave this good guy he has to admit that "well, other people are different from me and I don't really like them." This makes him feel guilty toward other people.
- 2013 July 19, Ian Sample, “Irregular bedtimes may affect children's brains”, in The Guardian Weekly[1], volume 189, number 6, archived from the original on 18 October 2026, page 34:
- Irregular bedtimes may disrupt healthy brain development in young children, according to a study of intelligence and sleeping habits. ¶ Going to bed at a different time each night affected girls more than boys, but both fared worse on mental tasks than children who had a set bedtime, researchers found.
- Various, assorted, diverse.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:assorted
- Antonyms: undifferent, homogeneous
- My daughter told me about all the different animals she saw at the zoo.
- 2006, Delbert S. Elliott et al., Good Kids from Bad Neighborhoods: Successful Development in Social Context[2], Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 19:
- In any case, poor black respondents living in high-poverty neighborhoods are most likely to view their neighborhood as a single block or block group and to use this definition consistently when asked about different neighborhood characteristics and activities.
- Distinct, separate; used for emphasis after numbers and other determiners of quantity.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:separate
- Antonyms: undifferent; see also Thesaurus:equal
- 2013 May-June, Charles T. Ambrose, “Alzheimer’s Disease”, in American Scientist[3], volume 101, number 3, archived from the original on 24 April 2013, page 200:
- Similar studies of rats have employed four different intracranial resorbable, slow sustained release systems—surgical foam, a thermal gel depot, a microcapsule or biodegradable polymer beads.
- Several different scientists all reached this conclusion at about the same time.
- Unlike most others; unusual.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:strange
- Antonyms: undifferent; see also Thesaurus:normal
- What do you think of my new hairdo? - Well, it's different.
Usage notes
- (not the same): Depending on dialect, time period, and register, the adjective different (“not the same”) may be construed with one of the prepositions from, to, and than, or with the subordinating conjunction than. Of these, from is more common in formal registers than in informal ones; than is more common in the US; and to is more common in the UK, in Australia, and in New Zealand. Style guides often advocate different from, by analogy with differ from rather than *differ than or *differ to, and proscribe different than and different to.
Derived terms
- couldn't be more different
- dance to a different tune
- diffability
- different as chalk and cheese
- different breed of cat
- different drummer
- differential
- differentiation
- different ideal
- different light
- differently
- differentness
- different story
- different strokes
- different strokes for different folks
- equidifferent
- horse of a different color
- march to a different beat
- march to a different drum
- march to a different drummer
- march to the beat of a different drum
- march to the beat of a different drummer
- nondifferent
- on a different note
- same same but different
- same, same, but different
- serodifferent
- sing a different tune
- tiger of a different stripe
Related terms
Descendants
- → Jersey Dutch: dääfrent
Translations
not the same — see also distinct
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unlike most others
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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Noun
different (plural differents)
- (mathematics) The different ideal.
Adverb
different (comparative more different, superlative most different)
- Differently.
- 1843 October 28, The Port Phillip Gazette, Victoria, page 4, column 1:
- [I]f they view it in the same light as I do, they will act different to their previous intentions.
- 1861 May 13, The Hobart Town Advertiser, page 1, column 4:
- Mr Graves objected to any postponement, and as to the verdict being against the weight of evidence, he was quite sure his Honor would not act different from the Judges, who were slow to interfere with the verdict of a jury.
- 1954 December 16, The Argus, Melbourne, page 29, column 6:
- Cars "act different" on a long trip.
- 2016 June 15, ABC Premium News, Sydney:
- "Although we all speak different and use different grammar, we have to be more tolerant of each other," he told ABC Brisbane's Katrina Davidson.
Derived terms
Further reading
- “different”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “different”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
German
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin differēns.
Pronunciation
Adjective
different (strong nominative masculine singular differenter, comparative differenter, superlative am differentesten)
Declension
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Related terms
Further reading
- “different” in Duden online
- “different”, in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache[4] (in German)
Latin
Verb
different
- third-person plural future active indicative of differō
Middle English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Old French different, from Latin differēns, present active participle of differō; equivalent to differren (“to postpone”) + -ent.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈdifɛrɛnt/, /diˈfɛrɛnt/
Adjective
different (plural and weak singular differente)
- different
Related terms
Descendants
References
- “different, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 31 July 2019.
Categories:
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- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
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- German terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European word *dwóh₁
- German terms derived from Latin
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- Middle English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European word *dwóh₁
- Middle English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Middle English terms derived from Old French
- Middle English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *bʰer-
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