different

See also: différent and diffèrent

English

Etymology

From Middle English different, from Old French different, from Latin differēns, present active participle of differō (“I differ”); see differ.

Broadly ousted the native Old English ungelic.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈdɪfəɹ(ə)nt/, /ˈdɪfɹənt/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈdɪfəɹənt/, /ˈdɪfɹənt/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: dif‧fer‧ent

Adjective

different (comparative more different, superlative most different)

1. Not the same; exhibiting a difference.
   • 1886, Thomas Hardy, The Mayor of Casterbridge:

     At Elizabeth-Jane mentioning how greatly Lucetta had been jeopardized, he exhibited an agitation different in kind no less than in intensity from any she had seen in him before.

   • 1915, Edward Knobel, Ptolemy's Catalogue of Stars – A Revision of the Almagest, page 14 (showing that "to" was used by an Englishman in 1915)

     One interesting feature was remarked by Dr. Peters, viz.: that the instrument used for the longitudes of the original catalogue was graduated differently to that used for the latitudes.

   • 1971, William S. Burroughs, The Wild Boys: A Book of the Dead, page 6:

     Enter the American tourist. He thinks of himself as a good guy but when he looks in the mirror to shave this good guy he has to admit that "well, other people are different from me and I don't really like them." This makes him feel guilty toward other people.

   • 2013 July 19, Ian Sample, “Irregular bedtimes may affect children's brains”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 34:

     Irregular bedtimes may disrupt healthy brain development in young children, according to a study of intelligence and sleeping habits.  ¶ Going to bed at a different time each night affected girls more than boys, but both fared worse on mental tasks than children who had a set bedtime, researchers found.

2. Various, assorted, diverse.
   • 2006, Delbert S. Elliott et al., Good Kids from Bad Neighborhoods: Successful Development in Social Context‎^[1], Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 19:

     In any case, poor black respondents living in high-poverty neighborhoods are most likely to view their neighborhood as a single block or block group and to use this definition consistently when asked about different neighborhood characteristics and activities.

3. Distinct, separate; used for emphasis after numbers and other determiners of quantity.
   • 2013 May-June, Charles T. Ambrose, “Alzheimer’s Disease”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, page 200:

     Similar studies of rats have employed four different intracranial resorbable, slow sustained release systems—surgical foam, a thermal gel depot, a microcapsule or biodegradable polymer beads.

   Several different scientists all reached this conclusion at about the same time.

4. Unlike most others; unusual.

Usage notes

• (not the same): Depending on dialect, time period, and register, the adjective different (“not the same”) may be construed with one of the prepositions from, to, and than, or with the subordinating conjunction than. Pleasure is different from/than/to happiness. It's different than (or from what) I expected. Of these, from is more common in formal registers than in informal ones; than is more common in the US than elsewhere; and to is more common in the UK, in Australia, and in New Zealand than in the US. Style guides often advocate different from, by analogy with differ from rather than *differ than or *differ to, and proscribe different than and different to.

Synonyms

• (not the same): other; See also Thesaurus:different
• (various): sundry; See also Thesaurus:assorted
• (distinct): apart, distinct; See also Thesaurus:separate
• (unlike most others): aberrant, deviant, nonstandard; See also Thesaurus:strange

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “not the same”): alike, identical, same, similar
• (antonym(s) of “various”): homogeneous
• (antonym(s) of “distinct”): coherent, indistinct, unified
• (antonym(s) of “unlike most others”): normal, usual; See also Thesaurus:normal
• (antonym(s) of “all senses”): undifferent

Derived terms

• couldn't be more different
• dance to a different tune
• diffability
• different as chalk and cheese
• different breed of cat
• different drummer
• differential
• differentiation
• different ideal
• different light
• differentness
• different story
• different strokes
• different strokes for different folks
• equidifferent
• horse of a different color
• march to a different beat
• march to a different drum
• march to a different drummer
• march to the beat of a different drum
• march to the beat of a different drummer
• nondifferent
• serodifferent
• sing a different tune
• tiger of a different stripe

 

Related terms

• differ
• difference
• differentiate
• indifferent

Descendants

• → Jersey Dutch: dääfrent

Translations

not the same

• American Sign Language: 1@BackFinger-FingerAcross-1@CenterChesthigh-FingerAcross 1@SideChesthigh-1@SideChesthigh
• Arabic: مُخْتَلِف (ar) (muḵtalif)

  Hijazi Arabic: مُخْتَلِف (muḵtalif), غير (ḡēr)

  Moroccan Arabic: مختلف (maḵtalef), مغاير (mḡāyir)

• Armenian: տարբեր (hy) (tarber), ուրիշ (hy) (uriš)
• Assamese: বেলেগ (beleg)
• Asturian: diferente
• Azerbaijani: başqa (az), ayrı (az)
• Bashkir: башҡа (başqa), бүтән (bütən), икенсе (ikense)
• Belarusian: і́ншы (be) (ínšy), адро́зны (adrózny)
• Bhojpuri: अलग (alag)
• Breton: disheñvel (br)
• Bulgarian: друг (bg) (drug), разли́чен (bg) (razlíčen)
• Burmese: တခြား (my) (ta.hkra:)
• Catalan: diferent (ca)
• Cherokee: ᏄᏓᎴᎢ (nudalei)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 唔同 (m⁴ tung⁴) 唔一樣 / 唔一样 (m⁴ jat¹ joeng⁶)

  Hakka: 無共樣 / 无共样 (mò-khiung-yong), 無共款 / 无共款 (mò-khiung-khuán)

  Hokkien: 無仝款 / 无仝款 (bô-kāng-khoán, bô-kâng-khoán), 無仝 / 无仝 (zh-min-nan) (bô-kāng, bô-kâng)

  Mandarin: 不一樣 / 不一样 (zh) (bùyīyàng)

• Cornish: dihaval
• Czech: odlišný (cs), jiný (cs)
• Danish: forskellig (da), anderledes, ulig
• Dutch: verschillend (nl), anders (nl), ongelijk (nl)
• Esperanto: nesama, malsama
• Estonian: erinev
• Faroese: øðrvísi
• Finnish: erilainen (fi), toisenlainen (fi)
• French: différent (fr)
• Galician: diferente (gl)
• Georgian: სხვა (sxva), სხვანაირი (sxvanairi), განსხვავებული (gansxvavebuli), სხვაგვარი (sxvagvari)
• German: verschieden (de), unterschiedlich (de), different (de)
• Greek: διαφορετικός (el) m (diaforetikós)

  Ancient: διάφορος (diáphoros), ἀλλοῖος (alloîos)

• Haitian Creole: diferan
• Hawaiian: ʻokoʻa
• Hebrew: שונה (he) m (shoné), שונה (he) f (shoná)
• Hindi: अलग (hi) (alag), अलहदा (hi) (alahdā), अलग-अलग (alag-alag)
• Hungarian: eltérő (hu), különböző (hu), más (hu)
• Icelandic: öðruvísi (is)
• Ido: diferanta (io)
• Indonesian: beda (id)
• Interlingua: distincte (ia)
• Irish: éagsúil, difriúil
• Italian: differente (it)
• Japanese: 異なる (ja) (ことなる, kotonaru), 違う (ja) (ちがう, chigau)
• Korean: 다른 (ko) (dareun)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: جیا (cya), جیاواز (ckb) (cyawaz)

  Northern Kurdish: cuda (ku), cihê (ku), têvel (ku), ferq (ku)

• Lao: ອື່ນ (ʼư̄n)
• Latin: differens (la)
• Latvian: atšķirīgs
• Lithuanian: skirtingas, kitoks
• Luxembourgish: verschidden, ongläich, ënnerschiddlech
• Macedonian: различен (različen), поинаков (poinakov), друг (drug)
• Malay: beza
• Malayalam: വ്യത്യസ്ത (vyatyasta)
• Maltese: differenti
• Manchu: ᠠᡩᠠᠯᡳ
  ᠠᡴᡡ (adali akū), ᡝᠮᡠ
  ᠠᡴᡡ (emu akū)
• Maori: kē
• Marathi: वेगळे (vegḷe)
• Middle English: different
• Norman: difféthent
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: forskjellig (no), ulik (no), annerledes (no), annleis (no)

  Nynorsk: forskjellig, ulik, annleis

• Occitan: diferent (oc)
• Old English: unġelīċ
• Polish: różny (pl), inny (pl)
• Portuguese: diferente (pt) m or f
• Romanian: diferit (ro), deosebit (ro)
• Russian: друго́й (ru) (drugój), не тако́й как (ne takój kak), отли́чный (ru) (otlíčnyj) + от, ино́й (ru) (inój)
• Scottish Gaelic: eadar-dhealaichte
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: различит, други

  Roman: različit (sh), drugi (sh)

• Slovak: odlišný, druhý (sk), iný
• Slovene: drugačen, drugi (sl)
• Southern Altai: башка (baška), экинчизи (ekinčizi)
• Spanish: diferente (es), distinto (es)
• Sranan Tongo: difrenti
• Swahili: tofauti (sw)
• Swedish: olik (sv), annorlunda (sv)
• Tagalog: iba (tl)
• Thai: อื่น (th) (ʉ̀ʉn), ต่าง (th) (dtàang)
• Tocharian B: āläṃ
• Tok Pisin: narakain
• Turkish: ayrı (tr), farklı (tr), değişik (tr)
• Ukrainian: і́нший (uk) (ínšyj), відмі́нний (uk) (vidmínnyj)
• Urdu: الگ (alag)
• Venetan: difarente
• Vietnamese: khác (vi)
• Welsh: gwahanol (cy)
• Yiddish: פֿאַרשיידן (farsheydn), פֿאַרשידן (farshidn)
• Yucatec Maya: hela’an
• Zazaki: ciya (diq) c

unlike most others

• Arabic: آٰخَر (ar) (ʔāāḵar)
• Armenian: տարբեր (hy) (tarber)
• Azerbaijani: başqa cür
• Bashkir: башҡа (başqa)
• Belarusian: ро́зны (rózny), і́ншы (be) (ínšy)
• Burmese: ထူး (my) (htu:)
• Catalan: diferent (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 不同 (zh) (bùtóng)

• Czech: jiný (cs), odlišný (cs)
• Danish: anderledes
• Dutch: anders (nl)
• Estonian: eriline (et)
• Finnish: erilainen (fi), omalaatuinen (fi), poikkeuksellinen (fi)
• French: différent (fr)
• Georgian: განსხვავებული (gansxvavebuli)
• German: anders (de)
• Haitian Creole: diferan
• Hebrew: שונה (he) m (shoné), שונה (he) f (shoná)
• Hungarian: eltérő (hu), különböző (hu), más (hu)
• Ido: diferanta (io)
• Italian: differente (it)
• Japanese: 特異 (ja) (とくい, tokui), 変わった (ja) (かわった, kawatta)
• Khmer: ខុស (km) (kʰoh), ប្លែក (km) (plaek)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: جیاواز (ckb) (cyawaz)

• Lao: ຕ່າງ (tāng)
• Macedonian: поинаков (poinakov)
• Malayalam: വ്യത്യസ്ത (vyatyasta)
• Norman: difféthent
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: annerledes (no), annleis (no)

  Nynorsk: annleis

• Old English: unġelīċ
• Polish: odmienny (pl), niezwykły (pl), rozmaity (pl), inny (pl)
• Portuguese: diferente (pt)
• Romanian: diferit (ro), deosebit (ro)
• Russian: ра́зный (ru) (ráznyj), разли́чный (ru) (razlíčnyj), друго́й (ru) (drugój), ино́й (ru) (inój)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: разан

  Roman: razan

• Slovene: drugačen
• Spanish: diferente (es)
• Swedish: annorlunda (sv)
• Thai: ต่าง (th) (dtàang)
• Tok Pisin: narakain
• Turkish: başka (tr)
• Ukrainian: рі́зний (ríznyj), і́нший (uk) (ínšyj)
• Welsh: gwahanol (cy)
• Zazaki: zewbi, zobi

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} malsama, ^{(please verify)} diferenca, ^{(please verify)} diversa
• Ido: ^{(please verify)} diferanta (io)
• Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} beda (id), ^{(please verify)} lain (id), ^{(please verify)} berbeda (id)
• Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} differente, ^{(please verify)} distincte (ia), ^{(please verify)} diverse
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} diverso (it)
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} distinto (es), ^{(please verify)} diferente (es)
• Telugu: ^{(please verify)} విభిన్నం (vibhinnaṁ)
• Turkish: ^{(please verify)} farklı (tr), ^{(please verify)} çeşitli (tr), ^{(please verify)} değişik (tr), ^{(please verify)} başka (tr)
• Vietnamese: ^{(please verify)} khác (vi)

Noun

different (plural differents)

1. (mathematics) The different ideal.

Adverb

different (comparative more different, superlative most different)

1. Differently.

Derived terms

• built different
• hit different

 

Further reading

• “different”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “different”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

German

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin differēns.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [dɪfəˈʁɛnt]
• Hyphenation: dif‧fe‧rent

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

different (strong nominative masculine singular differenter, comparative differenter, superlative am differentesten)

1. different

Declension

Positive forms of different

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist different	sie ist different	es ist different	sie sind different
strong declension (without article)	nominative	differenter	differente	differentes	differente
	genitive	differenten	differenter	differenten	differenter
	dative	differentem	differenter	differentem	differenten
	accusative	differenten	differente	differentes	differente
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der differente	die differente	das differente	die differenten
	genitive	des differenten	der differenten	des differenten	der differenten
	dative	dem differenten	der differenten	dem differenten	den differenten
	accusative	den differenten	die differente	das differente	die differenten
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein differenter	eine differente	ein differentes	(keine) differenten
	genitive	eines differenten	einer differenten	eines differenten	(keiner) differenten
	dative	einem differenten	einer differenten	einem differenten	(keinen) differenten
	accusative	einen differenten	eine differente	ein differentes	(keine) differenten

Comparative forms of different

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist differenter	sie ist differenter	es ist differenter	sie sind differenter
strong declension (without article)	nominative	differenterer	differentere	differenteres	differentere
	genitive	differenteren	differenterer	differenteren	differenterer
	dative	differenterem	differenterer	differenterem	differenteren
	accusative	differenteren	differentere	differenteres	differentere
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der differentere	die differentere	das differentere	die differenteren
	genitive	des differenteren	der differenteren	des differenteren	der differenteren
	dative	dem differenteren	der differenteren	dem differenteren	den differenteren
	accusative	den differenteren	die differentere	das differentere	die differenteren
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein differenterer	eine differentere	ein differenteres	(keine) differenteren
	genitive	eines differenteren	einer differenteren	eines differenteren	(keiner) differenteren
	dative	einem differenteren	einer differenteren	einem differenteren	(keinen) differenteren
	accusative	einen differenteren	eine differentere	ein differenteres	(keine) differenteren

Superlative forms of different

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist am differentesten	sie ist am differentesten	es ist am differentesten	sie sind am differentesten
strong declension (without article)	nominative	differentester	differenteste	differentestes	differenteste
	genitive	differentesten	differentester	differentesten	differentester
	dative	differentestem	differentester	differentestem	differentesten
	accusative	differentesten	differenteste	differentestes	differenteste
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der differenteste	die differenteste	das differenteste	die differentesten
	genitive	des differentesten	der differentesten	des differentesten	der differentesten
	dative	dem differentesten	der differentesten	dem differentesten	den differentesten
	accusative	den differentesten	die differenteste	das differenteste	die differentesten
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein differentester	eine differenteste	ein differentestes	(keine) differentesten
	genitive	eines differentesten	einer differentesten	eines differentesten	(keiner) differentesten
	dative	einem differentesten	einer differentesten	einem differentesten	(keinen) differentesten
	accusative	einen differentesten	eine differenteste	ein differentestes	(keine) differentesten

Further reading

• “different” in Duden online
• “different” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Latin

Verb

different

1. third-person plural future active indicative of differō

Middle English

Alternative forms

• dyfferent

Etymology

From Old French different, from Latin differēns, present active participle of differō; equivalent to differren (“to postpone”) +‎ -ent.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdifɛrɛnt/, /diˈfɛrɛnt/

Adjective

different (plural and weak singular differente)

1. different

Related terms

• differently

Descendants

• English: different
• Scots: different

References

• “different, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-07-31.