differentia
Americannoun
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the character or attribute by which one species is distinguished from all others of the same genus.
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the character or basic factor by which one entity is distinguished from another.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of differentia
From Latin, dating back to 1820–30; see origin at difference
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Genus and differentia are found in every good definition.
From English: Composition and Literature by Webster, W. F. (William Franklin)
The qualities which this general differentia has developed in French may now be enumerated.
From A Short History of French Literature by Saintsbury, George
This something has been called—after the analogy of the differentia specifica which differentiates species within a genus—the differentia individua of the individual.
From Ontology or the Theory of Being by Coffey, Peter
Musset, who was very much of a free-lance in the contest, maintained indeed that the differentia of the Romantic was the copious use of this part of speech.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 2 "French Literature" to "Frost, William" by Various
To quote the differentia of Sir Oliver Lodge: “A solid has volume and shape; a liquid has volume, but no shape; a gas has neither volume nor shape.”
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 4 "G" to "Gaskell, Elizabeth" by Various
It is like as in the study of plants—classification by differentiae.
From Chinese Literature Comprising the Analects of Confucius, the Sayings of Mencius, the Shi-King, the Travels of Fâ-Hien, and the Sorrows of Han by Davis, John Francis, Sir
The Vicar, you must understand, had done his best to inculcate the recognised differentiae of a gentleman.
From The Wonderful Visit by Wells, H. G. (Herbert George)
Yet this is not peculiar to substance, for it is also the case that differentiae cannot be present in subjects.
From The Categories by Edghill, E. M.
But it is also essential to the understanding of this thesis that the differentiae of the hereditary factors should be clearly grasped.
From Darwin and Modern Science by Seward, A. C. (Albert Charles)
After all, what are the chief differentiae between man and the brute creation but that he clothes himself, that he cooks his food, that he uses articulate speech?
From On the Art of Writing Lectures delivered in the University of Cambridge 1913-1914 by Quiller-Couch, Arthur Thomas, Sir
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
