Etymologically
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different

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈdɪf.ər.ənt/, /ˈdɪf.rənt/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English different, borrowed from Old French different,[2][3][4] from Latin differēns (“differing”) (stem different-), the present participle of differre (“to carry apart; to be different”),[5][6] from dis- (“apart”) and ferre (“to carry”),[2][5] from Proto-Indo-European *bher- (“to carry”).[2] Random House gives its route as through Anglo-French.[7] Latin differre meant both “to put off” and “to differ”, and is the source of both defer and differ.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Unlike, dissimilar (about 1384, in the earlier Wycliffite Bible).[9][10]

Semantic evolution

The OED's first constructions with a following preposition are from 1526, and the prepositions from, to and than have all been used by respected writers since then;[10][4][11] critics have objected to different than since the 18th century.[3] In the 17th century the word also took a weaker sense, “other, not the same”, with no idea of unlikeness (five different churches).[10][12] The adverbial use, “differently”, is recorded from 1744 and is now chiefly jocular or dialectal.[13][4] The colloquial sense “special, out of the ordinary” dates from 1912;[2][10] Dalzell notes that by the 1960s and 1970s it's different served as a polite way to avoid praising something.[14] The saying different strokes for different folks is American;[14][8] Dalzell finds it in 1945, and the Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins links its fame to remarks by Muhammad Ali in the 1960s.[14][8]

Timeline

  • c. 1384 – unlike, dissimilar (Wycliffite Bible).[9]
  • c. 1400 – the OED's first quotation.[10]
  • 1483 – as a noun, a dispute (obsolete).[10]
  • 1526 – followed by from, to or than.[10]
  • 1651 – other, not the same.[10]
  • 1744 – as an adverb, differently.[10][13]
  • 1912 – out of the ordinary, special.[10][2]
  • 1945 – different strokes for different folks.[14]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Not the same; unlike in form, nature or quality.
  2. Distinct or separate: on two different occasions.
  3. Various: spoke to different members of the group.
  4. (informal) Unusual, out of the ordinary.

Adverb

  1. (informal or dialect) In a different way; differently.

Word family

  • differently
  • differentness
  • differential
  • differentiation
  • differ
  • difference
  • differentiate
  • indifferent
  • defer

Usage notes

Different from is the traditional and most widely accepted construction.[11][15] Different than is more common in American English, where it is generally accepted before a full clause (the campus is different than it was); different to is common in British English.[3][4][7] All three have been used by reputable writers for about 300 years.[7][3]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  4. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
  7. ^ a b c Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  8. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  11. ^ a b Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  12. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  13. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  14. ^ a b c d Dalzell, Tom; Victor, Terry, eds. (2013), The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, 2nd ed., London: Routledge
  15. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins