Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To be dissimilar or unlike in nature, quality, amount, or form: Ambition differs from greed.
- v. To be of a different opinion; disagree: The critic differed with the author on several facts.
- v. Obsolete To quarrel; dispute.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To be unlike, dissimilar, distinct, or various in nature, condition, form, or qualities: used absolutely or with from: as, the two things differ greatly; men differ from brutes; a statue differs from a picture; wisdom differs from cunning.
- To disagree; be of a contrary opinion; dissent; be at variance; vary in opinion or action: used absolutely or with from or with: as, they differ in their methods; he differs from other writers on the subject.
- To express disagreement or dissent by word of mouth; come into antagonism; dispute; contend: followed by with.
- Synonyms To vary.
- To cause to be different or unlike.
- To cause difference or dispute between; divide.
- To put off; defer. See defer.
- n. Difference.
Wiktionary
- v. Not to have the same traits, characteristics.
- v. people, etc. To have diverging opinions, disagree.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To be or stand apart; to disagree; to be unlike; to be distinguished; -- with
from . - v. To be of unlike or opposite opinion; to disagree in sentiment; -- often with
from orwith . - v. To have a difference, cause of variance, or quarrel; to dispute; to contend.
- v. rare To cause to be different or unlike; to set at variance.
WordNet 3.0
- v. be different
- v. be of different opinions
Etymologies
- From Middle English differen, from Latin differō ("carry apart, put off, defer; differ"), from dis- ("apart") + ferō ("carry, bear"). (Wiktionary)
- Middle English differren, from Old French differer, from Latin differre, to differ, delay : dis-, apart; see dis- + ferre, to carry; see bher-1 in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The designations of the title differ; what is stated above was probably the fact.”
“Where he and I would differ is that I think that the ability of government to devise a "solution" to the problem of future adjustments to the availability of educated labor from other countries is minimal compared to that of the decentralized trial-and-error groping mechanism of the market.”
Economic Advisers Stoop to the Net, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty
“I'm not sure why my numbers on foreign versus US scientists differ from the abstract (their 39 and 15 versus my 37 and 17), my guess is that they have opportunistically included 2 scientists who have some minor US connection as being from here.”
Two Cowenian Tenure Claims, Bryan Caplan | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty
“How would that differ from the British system where the authorities do not "waste" resources keeping 85 year olds alive for another six months?”
Distribution of Health Care Spending, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty
“His management style may differ from the president's, but Rouse has been a partner in building the strategy that took Obama from the Senate to the White House and in his first two years as president.”
The Washington Post: Obama signals continuity, for now, with staff changes
“The case of Stargate: Universe discussed how the new series would differ from the two others that preceded it.”
Orbiting the Blogosphere – News from the San Diego Comic Con
“How does Bel Canto differ from the other novels you've written?”
“How does a childfree marriage differ from a more traditional marriage?”
>An interview with Laura Carroll, conducted by Carol Dominy. First published in BellaOnline.com.
“I think it would help if you described what you think the transition cost are that differ from the unfunded liability.”
Comment of the Week, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty
“And we can also leave for another time the 'politization' (sp?) of the estimates and how they differ from the GDP growth estimates elsewhere.”
Social Security Privatization, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘differ’.
-
dis-
away; apart; deprive of; cause to be the opposite of; fail
disapprove, dismiss, disbar, disable, disallow, dishonest, disunion, divest, differ, antidisestablishm..., disgust, disavow
-
ttobba's Words
graph, amore, labrador, sun, boreal, norsk, coffee, cafe, pekin, peking, train, rail and 97 more...
-
Basic English Vocabulary
Very basic words for ESL students.
contemplate, container, consumer, consultant, consensus, conscious, conscience, connection, confusion, confront, conflict, confident and 4334 more...
-
Carry Me Home
Another kind of bear list: words bearing the -fer suffix ("that which carries"), the -ferous suffix ("bearing," "producing," or "yielding").
Also see (if you like) Carry Me Home Again.aquifer, conifer, umbellifer, transfer, thurifer, defer, telfer, suffer, rotifer, refer, foraminifer, poriferous and 157 more...
-
my dictionary
able, abnormally, abroad, absent, abstract, acceptable, acceptance, access, accessible, accession, according to, account and 4551 more...
-
Clarification
Words I only knew from context clues.
adventitious, alloy, ascendancy, blight, coloratura, contemn, differ, dilettante, discursive, dissolute, dogmatism, ebullient and 22 more...
-
Words related to art
display, transform, value, quality, difference, frame, picture, plane, picture plane, interruption, interrupt, Raw and 11 more...
-
When points of view collide
argue, fight, discuss, debate, deliberate, dispute, contend, quarrel, altercation, wrangle, hassle, clash and 5 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for differ.
Comments
No comments yet...
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.