Differentialize

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To establish contrasts among different entities by emphasizing unique features and characteristics
2. To distinguish between multiple items or groups through a process that highlights their individual traits
3. To create or highlight differences between various elements or categories

Etymology: "Differentialize" is a plain, technical coinage: the adjective "differential" with the verb-forming suffix "-ize" added to the end. The adjective itself comes from Latin "differentia," meaning difference, which traces back through "differre," to carry apart, built from "dis-" (apart) and "ferre" (to carry). The Latin root carried the sense of separating things by carrying them in different directions, and that physical image sits underneath the modern meaning of sorting items by their distinguishing traits. The suffix "-ize" goes back to Ancient Greek "-izein," which Latin later adopted as "-izare" and which entered English through Middle French and Middle English. It became the standard way of turning nouns and adjectives into verbs meaning "to make" or "to treat in a certain way," so "differentialize" follows a familiar pattern.