differentia Latin · revision 4088

15 Oct 2026, 21:07 by bogdan “New Latin entry (sources: de Vaan, OLD, Lewis & Short, TLL...)” current version
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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Cicero|origins=la differō}}
+ 
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA (Classical): [dɪf.fɛˈrɛn.ti.a]^(Wiktionary)
+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [dif.feˈrɛn.t͡si.a]^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Forms==
+ '''differentia''' ''f'' (genitive differentiae); first declension^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is [[af|la|differēns|-ia|t1=differing]], from the present participle of [[differo|alt=differō]] “to carry apart, differ”.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(TLL)
+ 
+ ==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.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(OLD 2012) Köbler dates Cicero 81–43 BC.^(Köbler 2010)
+ 
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ It meant a difference, diversity or distinction, and Lewis & Short describe it as good prose, especially frequent in Quintilian.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) 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.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)^(Gaffiot 2016) Isidore of Seville treats it as a kind of definition that separates things confused by some common feature.^(Isidore)
+ 
+ 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.^(MLW)^(DMLBS)^(Niermeyer 1976) English ''difference'' came from Old French and Latin in the mid-14th century.^(Etymonline)
+ 
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of difference and of species.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 14–37 AD – Celsus uses it of differences between conditions.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville treats it as a kind of definition.^(Isidore)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * mid-14th century – English ''difference'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)
+ 
+ ==Meanings==
+ ===Noun===
+ # A [[m|en|difference]], diversity, distinction.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)
+ # ''(logic)'' A distinguishing characteristic, the [[m|en|differentia]], ''(plural)'' species.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)
+ # ''(Medieval Latin, music)'' The closing formula of a psalm tone.^(MLW)
+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A dispute; a postponement.^(Niermeyer 1976)^(DMLBS)
+ 
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[differo]]
+ * [[en|difference]]
+ 
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}