Differentiations

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The processes or results of distinguishing characteristics among items, clarifying what sets groups, entities, or aspects apart, or facilitating the recognition of unique qualities within various contexts
2. The acts or outcomes of identifying distinctions between things or groups to highlight unique features
3. Processes by which differences are recognized or created to separate or specify various elements

Etymology: The word's core sense is the old Latin idea of carrying things apart. "Differō" combined "dis-", meaning "apart," with "ferō," "to carry or bear," so to differ was literally to carry in different directions. The same root gives Greek "diaphérō," "to differ," which shows the idea was shared across the two languages. Latin "differentia" grew from that verb as a noun for the quality that sets one thing off from another. English took the family in stages. "Different" came through Old French "differer" and Middle English "differen," and the verb "differentiate" was later built on it. "Differentiation" adds the suffix "-ion," which turns a verb of action into a noun for the process or its result. Because the suffix does this work, the word names the act of drawing a line between things, not a fixed object.

Synonyms: distinctions, differentiations

Antonyms: sameness, uniformity