differentia

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [dɪf.fɛˈrɛn.ti.a]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [dif.feˈrɛn.t͡si.a]^[1]

Forms

differentia f (genitive differentiae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin differēns (“differing”) + -ia, from the present participle of differō “to carry apart, differ”.^[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero uses it of the difference between the honourable and the becoming, and in the Topica of the distinguishing marks of species.^[4][2] Köbler dates Cicero 81–43 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant a difference, diversity or distinction, and Lewis & Short describe it as good prose, especially frequent in Quintilian.^[2][4] In logic it was the distinguishing characteristic of a species, and in the plural the species themselves, opposed to the genus, as in Cicero and Gellius.^[2][6][7] Isidore of Seville treats it as a kind of definition that separates things confused by some common feature.^[8]

Medieval Latin used it in music for the melodic ending of a psalm tone, in mathematics for the difference between two quantities, and for a disagreement or dispute and a postponement.^[9][10][11] English difference came from Old French and Latin in the mid-14th century.^[12]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of difference and of species.^[4][2][5]
• 14–37 AD – Celsus uses it of differences between conditions.^[2][5]
• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville treats it as a kind of definition.^[8][5]
• mid-14th century – English difference is recorded.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. A difference, diversity, distinction.^[2][1]
2. (logic) A distinguishing characteristic, the differentia, (plural) species.^[2][6]
3. (Medieval Latin, music) The closing formula of a psalm tone.^[9]
4. (Medieval Latin) A dispute; a postponement.^[11][10]

Related words

• differo
• English difference

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ a b Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
9. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
10. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
12. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com