differ English · revision 10447

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1374|origins=fro differer|origins=la differre|origins=ine-pro *bʰer-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈdɪfə/ ''(UK)''; /ˈdɪfɚ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English differen, [[bor|fro|differer|t=to differ, defer]] and directly from Latin differre, to set apart, scatter, put off, be different,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(Collins 2023) from dis-, apart, and ferre, to carry (see [[bear]]),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from PIE *bʰer-, to carry.^(Etymonline) It is a doublet of [[defer]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To be different, unlike: about 1374 in the OED, about 1380 in Chaucer's Boethius in Barnhart;^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) earlier differren, to put off, defer (about 1375).^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The two senses of the Latin verb went separate ways in English: the transitive senses became [[defer]], to put off, and the intransitive senses, related to [[different]] and [[difference]], became differ,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) the split in form coming from a difference in stress.^(Barnhart 1988) To disagree, be of contrary opinion, is from the 1560s (1563).^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) To express disagreement, to dispute, is from 1625.^(OED 1989) In Scots a noun differ, a difference, is from the mid-16th century.^(SOED 2002)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1374 – to be unlike.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1375 – differren, to defer.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1563 – to disagree.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1625 – to dispute.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To be unlike or dissimilar in nature, quality or amount.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To be of a different opinion; to [[disagree]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(dialect)'' To quarrel or dispute.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[difference]]

+ * [[different]]

+ * [[differential]]

+ * [[differentiate]]

+ * [[differentiation]]

+ * [[differently]]

+ * [[indifference]]

+ * [[indifferent]]

+ * [[defer]]

+ * [[refer]]

+ * [[confer]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''To agree to differ'' is to end an argument while keeping different opinions.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}