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Webster 1913 Edition


Differentiate

Difˊfer-en′ti-ate

,
Verb.
T.
1.
To distinguish or mark by a specific difference; to effect a difference in, as regards classification; to develop differential characteristics in; to specialize; to desynonymize.
The word
then
was
differentiated
into the two forms
then
and
than
.
Earle.
Two or more of the forms assumed by the same original word become
differentiated
in signification.
Dr. Murray.
2.
To express the specific difference of; to describe the properties of (a thing) whereby it is differenced from another of the same class; to discriminate.
Earle.
3.
(Math.)
To obtain the differential, or differential coefficient, of;
as, to
differentiate
an algebraic expression, or an equation
.

Difˊfer-en′ti-ate

,
Verb.
I.
(Biol.)
To acquire a distinct and separate character.
Huxley.

Definition 2024


differentiate

differentiate

English

Verb

differentiate (third-person singular simple present differentiates, present participle differentiating, simple past and past participle differentiated)

  1. (transitive) To show, or be the distinction between two things.
    • Earle
      The word "then" was differentiated into the two forms "then" and "than".
    • 1933, George Orwell, “Ch. XXII”, in Down and Out in Paris and London, Harvest / Harcourt paperback edition, page 120:
      The mass of the rich and poor are differentiated by their incomes and nothing else, and the average millionaire is only the average dishwasher dressed in a new suit.
  2. (intransitive) To perceive the difference between things; to discriminate.
    • 1964, New York Times v. Sullivan:
      he refused to instruct that actual intent to harm or recklessness had to be found before punitive damages could be awarded, or that a verdict for respondent should differentiate between compensatory and punitive damages.
  3. (transitive, intransitive) To modify, or be modified.
  4. (transitive, mathematics) To calculate the derivative of a function.
  5. (transitive, mathematics) To calculate the differential of a function of multiple variables.
  6. (intransitive, biology) To produce distinct organs or to achieve specific functions by a process of development called differentiation.
    • 1930, Robert Evans Snodgrass, Insects: Their Ways and Means of Living:
      In Chapter IV we learned that every animal consists of a body, or soma, formed of cells that are differentiated from the germ cells usually at an early stage of development.

Synonyms

Derived terms

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Translations

External links

  • differentiate in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
  • differentiate in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911