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differentialis

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [dɪf.fɛ.rɛn.tiˈaː.lɪs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [dif.fe.ren.t͡siˈaː.lis][1]

Forms

differentiālis (neuter differentiāle); third-declension two-termination adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin differentia (“difference”) + -ālis,[1][2][3] a Medieval Latin formation.[2][3] differentia comes from differō (“to differ”), a compound of dis- and ferō (“to carry”).[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates its first record, in Gunther, to the 11th century;[2] there it qualifies an ambiguous phrase whose sense the reader is asked to examine, “containing a difference”.[4]

Semantic evolution

The general sense “distinguishing, marking a difference” appears in insignia that a prince had laid aside.[4] In scholastic logic it described the forms that are added to a genus to make up a species, as in Otto of Freising and Albertus Magnus,[4] and Wyclif uses it of forms distinguished by specific difference.[5] In music the tonus differentialis was the closing formula of a psalm tone after the Gloria Patri, which leads into the antiphon.[4][2] As a neuter noun it meant a distinguishing mark.[4]

English took the word as differential in the 1640s, and the mathematical noun and differential calculus followed in the early 18th century.[3]

Timeline

  • 11th century – Gunther uses it of an ambiguous phrase.[2][4]
  • 1157–1158 – Otto of Freising uses it in logic of differentiating forms.[2][4]
  • 1272–1304 – Hieronymus de Moravia describes the tonus differentialis.[2][4]
  • 1640s – English borrows it as differential.[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. (Medieval Latin) Containing or marking a difference; distinguishing.[4][2]
  2. (Medieval Latin, logic) Differential, constituting the specific difference.[4][5][6]
  3. (Medieval Latin, music) tonus differentiālis: the closing formula of a psalm tone.[4][2]
  4. (Medieval Latin) Of verses that illustrate the difference between words of like form.[5]

Noun

  1. (Medieval Latin) A distinguishing mark.[4]

Usage notes

Medieval spellings include differencialis.[2][4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c 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
  6. ^ Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl