differentiate

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin differentiō (“to distinguish”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} whose past participle differentiātus it takes with -ate;^[2][4][3] the Medieval Latin verb is recorded from the 14th century in British and continental sources.^[2] Merriam-Webster's Unabridged treats it instead as an assumed New Latin form.^[7] The verb is formed on Latin differentia (“difference, diversity”),^[2][3][5] from differēns, the present participle of differō (“to set apart, differ”), from dis- (“apart”) and ferō (“to bear, carry”).^[3] The mathematical sense was at first modelled on French différentier, so used from 1754; Middle French differencier (“to make different”) is recorded from 1405.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In mathematics, to obtain the differential or derivative of a function: 1814, in John Toplis's translation of Laplace.^[2] Etymonline and Merriam-Webster's Unabridged date the verb to 1816.^[3][7]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline notes that the verb was originally a mathematical term.^[3] The general sense, of a feature that makes one thing differ from another, follows in 1838,^[2] and biology took it up in the 1850s for cells and tissues that become specialized, transitively from 1853 and intransitively from 1856;^[2] Herbert Spencer used it in 1858 of anything developing into a system of distinct parts.^[2] The everyday sense "to tell apart, distinguish between" is recorded from 1855 (intransitive) and 1857 (transitive);^[2] Etymonline dates it to 1876, noting that difference had earlier been used as a verb in that sense.^[3][2] The noun, in geology a rock that has differentiated from its parent rock, dates from 1901.^[2][7]

Timeline

• 1814 – in mathematics, to find the derivative of.^[2]
• 1816 – first date in Etymonline and Merriam-Webster.^[3][7]
• 1838 – to make different, constitute a difference between.^[2]
• 1853 – in biology, to cause to become specialized.^[2]
• 1855 – to distinguish between.^[2]
• 1856 – in biology, to become specialized.^[2]
• 1857 – to tell (one thing) from another.^[2]
• 1901 – noun, in geology.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To recognize or state the difference between things; to distinguish or discriminate: Can you differentiate a crow from a raven?^[8][7][2]
2. To be what makes one thing different from another: Its bright plumage differentiates the male from the female.^[8][7][2]
3. To become different or distinct.^[8][2]
4. (mathematics) To find the derivative of a function.^[8][7][2]
5. (biology) Of cells or tissues, to change into more specialized forms during development.^[8][2]

Noun

1. (geology) A rock formed by differentiation from a parent magma or rock.^[7][2]

Word family

• differentiation
• differentiability
• differentiable
• dedifferentiate
• differentiator
• redifferentiate

Related words

• differ
• difference
• different
• differential
• differentia
• defer

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins