difference

American  

[dif-er-uhns, dif-ruhns] / ˈdɪf ər əns, ˈdɪf rəns /

noun

• differences
  plural

1. 

   the state or relation of being different; dissimilarity.

   There is a great difference between the two.

   Synonyms:

   contrariety, contrast, divergence, inequality, imbalance, diversity, variation, inconsistency

   Antonyms:

   agreement, similarity

2. an instance or point of unlikeness or dissimilarity.

   What accounts for the differences in their behavior?

3. a significant change in or effect on a situation.

   His tact makes a difference in the way people accept his suggestions.

4. a distinguishing characteristic; distinctive quality, feature, etc..

   The difference in the two products is quality.

5. the degree to which one person or thing differs from another.

6. the act of distinguishing; discrimination; distinction.

7. a disagreement in opinion.

8. a dispute or quarrel.

9. Also called finite distance. Mathematics.

   1. the amount by which one quantity is greater or less than another.

   2. relative complement.

   3. (of a functionf ) an expression of the form f (x +h ) − f (x ).

10. a differentia.

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verb (used with object)

differenced, differencing

1. to cause or constitute a difference in or between; make different.

2. to perceive the difference in or between; discriminate.

idioms

1. split the difference,

   1. to compromise, especially to make equal concessions.

   2. to divide the remainder equally.

      Let's take half of the cake and let the three of them split the difference.

difference British  

/ ˈdɪfrəns, ˈdɪfərəns /

noun

1. the state or quality of being unlike

2. a specific instance of being unlike

3. a distinguishing mark or feature

4. a significant change in a situation

   the difference in her is amazing

5. a disagreement or argument

   he had a difference with his wife

6. a degree of distinctness, as between two people or things

7. 1. the result of the subtraction of one number, quantity, etc, from another

   2. the single number that when added to the subtrahend gives the minuend; remainder

8. logic another name for differentia

9. maths

   1. A – B. the set of members of the first that are not members of the second

   2. Often symbolized: A + B. the set of members of one but not both of the given sets

10. heraldry an addition to the arms of a family to represent a younger branch

11. 1. to have an effect

    2. to treat differently

12. 1. to settle a dispute by a compromise

    2. to divide a remainder equally

13. with some peculiarly distinguishing quality, good or bad

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verb

1. rare to distinguish

2. heraldry to add a charge to (arms) to differentiate a branch of a family

difference More Idioms  

1. see make a difference; split the difference. Also see under different.

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Synonym Usage

Difference, discrepancy, disparity, dissimilarity imply perceivable unlikeness, variation, or diversity. Difference refers to a lack of identity or a degree of unlikeness: a difference of opinion; a difference of six inches. Discrepancy usually refers to an inconsistency between things that should agree, balance, or harmonize: a discrepancy between the statements of two witnesses. Disparity implies inequality, often where a greater equality might reasonably be expected: a great disparity between the ages of husband and wife. Dissimilarity indicates an essential lack of resemblance between things in some respect comparable: a dissimilarity between social customs in Asia and America. See distinction.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• differences
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of difference

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin differentia, equivalent to different- “scattering, dispersing” ( see different ( def. )) + -ia -ia ( def. ); see -ence ( def. )

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Explanation

Difference is a word for things that are not the same. Identical twins have few if any differences in appearance. If you dye your hair green, everyone is going to notice a huge difference. People often have differences of opinion. No two people are alike, so there are all kinds of differences between individuals. In math, a difference is the remainder left after subtracting one number from another. Chimps and gorillas are both apes, but there are a lot of differences between them. If something doesn't really change an outcome, you can say, "It makes no difference."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

difference differences differenced differencing

You can’t question a difference you have no way of seeing.

From Salon ● Nov. 2, 2026

Cancer patients have warned delays in scans could be the difference between life and death as Wales faces a shortage of radiologists.

From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2026

Despite the difference in fundraising and overall money going toward high school sports programs in middle to lower income areas versus the higher income suburbs, the Patriot girls’ flag football team has thrived.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 1, 2026

Were either car to come to market, the difference between the official Hippie Car and its copy could be tens of millions of dollars.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 1, 2026

And when she’s 55, he’ll be 75, and that’s not so big a difference.

From "The (Mostly) True Story of Cleopatra's Needle" by Dan Gutman

Because the research was observational, it could identify connections between tea drinking and health outcomes but could not establish that tea itself was responsible for the differences.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 1, 2026

The nascent operation has been taking advantage of wide price differences across providers, the types of inefficiencies that have been tougher to come by in mainstream markets such as stocks and options.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 1, 2026

“We have similarities running the ball but also differences too,” Williams said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2026

Governments have been pushed to bridge differences but progress has been slow and major breakthroughs scarce since the negotiations began on October 19.

From Barron's ● Oct. 30, 2026

“Well, I happen to know that there are as many differences between a blouse and a vest as there are between a peach and a banana.”

From "Not Nothing" by Gayle Forman

When you are dead, and stand to me Not differenced, as now, But like again, will you be cold As when we lived, or how?

From Washington Post ● Jan. 27, 2016

If a second map of the exact same area is acquired when there is no snow, the two surfaces can be differenced to produce a snow depth map.

From Scientific American ● Apr. 10, 2012

"David is a point of differenced player and we are looking forward to him making an impact at the breakdown," the Australia forwards coach, Jim Williams, said.

From The Guardian ● Jul. 23, 2010

The echo of the Karstark sunburst was there for those who cared to look, but differenced to make the arms appropriate for House Thenn.

From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin

This same 197 shield, No. 368—Or, a bend between six martlets sa., was also differenced by other families to mark their feudal alliance with the house of Luterell.

From The Handbook to English Heraldry by R. B. Utting

By differencing the NH and SH they magnify the effect. 

From New York Times ● Sep. 22, 2010

The arms borne in the usual manner were often surrounded with a bordure to indicate bastardy; of this mode of differencing several examples are furnished in the arms of existing peers descended from royalty.

From The Curiosities of Heraldry by Mark Antony Lower

Every mind has a new compass, a new direction of its own, differencing its genius and aim from every other mind.—We call this specialty the bias of each individual.

From Ralph Waldo Emerson by Oliver Wendell Holmes

Tenants or neighbours of the great feudal lords were wont to make their arms by differencing the lord’s shield or by bringing some charge of it into their own bearings.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 3 "Helmont, Jean" to "Hernosand" by Various

Rules of general enunciation made false in the applying, by the inability of perceiving in the instance the differencing conditions which qualify the rule, or suspend it.

From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 57, No. 353, March 1845 by Various

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Related Words

• change
• characteristic
• contrast
• discrepancy
• disparity
• distinction
• divergence
• diversity
• inequality
• variation

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