differentiate

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   To modify so as to create a difference or distinction.

   • A humble instance of Ablaut may be quoted which took place in the seventeenth century, when the word then was differentiated into the two forms then and than.
2. 2

   To show or be the difference or distinction between things.

   • What differentiates an alligator from a crocodile?
   • Taste differentiates a gentleman—for instance, Mr. Addison—from a Hottentot or Laplander.
3. 3

   To recognize as different or distinct.

   • How do you differentiate a fake smile from a genuine one?
   • 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.
4. ›+ 6 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      To calculate the derivative of a function.

   2. 5

      To calculate the differential of a function of multiple variables.

   3. 6

      To perceive the difference between things

      To perceive the difference between things; to discriminate.

      • 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.
   4. 7

      To teach a lesson in multiple different ways in order to meet the needs of more or less…

      To teach a lesson in multiple different ways in order to meet the needs of more or less advanced students.

      • Like most teaching, differentiating is a mix of art and science. When it works, "it's like a jazz rhythm," said Carol Tomlinson, an education professor at the University of Virginia and an expert on differentiation.
      • Moreover, children of STIP-teachers who showed many types of differentiation activities learnt more than children of STIP-teachers who differentiated less.
      • I use technology to differentiate in my Algebra classroom in many different ways. Sometimes, I put this technology in the hands of students and sometimes I use it myself to streamline a process.
   5. 8

      To (cause to) go through a process of development called differentiation

      To (cause to) go through a process of development called differentiation; to make or become different in form or function.

      • 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.
      • Osteoblasts are derived from stromal cells, a type of connective tissue cell in the bone marrow, whereas osteoclasts differentiate from macrophages, which are tissue-bound derivatives of monocytes, a type of white blood cell (see p. 402).
   6. 9

      Something that has been differentiated or stratified.

      • There is no discernable tendency, however, for the differentiates to fall into two extremities, as would be expected if they were trending toward distinct eutectics in a residua system.
      • This latter terminology is particularly favored by Soviet petrologists, e.g.. Bogatikov et al. (1985), who believe that any magma typically exhibits both agpaitic and miascitic differentiates.

The neighborhood

• synonymtell apart
• synonymtransform
• synonymalter
• synonymdifferentiate
• synonymdifferentialize (rare) ?
• synonymdistinguish
• synonymindividualize
• synonymparticularize
• synonymseveralize
• antonymequateantonym(s) of “to show the distinction between things”
• antonymmix upantonym(s) of “to perceive the difference between things”
• antonymmuddle upantonym(s) of “to perceive the difference between things”
• antonymleave aloneantonym(s) of “to modify”
• antonympreserveantonym(s) of “to modify”
• neighbordiffer
• neighbordifference
• neighbordifferent
• neighbordifferential
• neighbortell apart