Difference - Dictionary Definition and Overview

Difference :  (noun)
1: the quality of being unlike or dissimilar; "there are many differences between jazz and rock" [ant: sameness]
2: a variation that deviates from the standard or norm; "the deviation from the mean" [syn: deviation, divergence, departure]
3: a disagreement or argument about something important; "he had a dispute with his wife"; "there were irreconcilable differences"; "the familiar conflict between Republicans and Democrats" [syn: dispute, difference of opinion, conflict]
4: a significant change; "the difference in her is amazing"; "his support made a real difference"
5: the number that remains after subtraction; the number that when added to the subtrahend gives the minuend [syn: remainder]

Based on WordNet 2.0

Difference : \Dif"fer*ence\, n. [F. diff['e]rence, L. differentia.] 1. The act of differing; the state or measure of being different or unlike; distinction; dissimilarity; unlikeness; variation; as, a difference of quality in paper; a difference in degrees of heat, or of light; what is the difference between the innocent and the guilty?

Differencies of administration, but the same Lord. --1 Cor. xii. 5.

2. Disagreement in opinion; dissension; controversy; quarrel; hence, cause of dissension; matter in controversy.

What was the difference? It was a contention in public. --Shak.

Away therefore went I with the constable, leaving the old warden and the young constable to compose their difference as they could. --T. Ellwood.

Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

Difference : \Dif"fer*ence\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Differenced; p. pr. & vb. n. Differencing.] To cause to differ; to make different; to mark as different; to distinguish.

Thou mayest difference gods from men. --Chapman.

Kings, in receiving justice and undergoing trial, are not differenced from the meanest subject. --Milton.

So completely differenced by their separate and individual characters that we at once acknowledge them as distinct persons. --Sir W. Scott.

Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

DIFFERENCE. A dispute, contest, disagreement, quarrel.

Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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