English

Noun

differentia ‎(plural differentiae)

1. (semantics, logic) A distinguishing feature which marks something off from other members of the same family.
   • 1902, William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience, Folio Society 2008, p. 38:

     That character, it seems to me, should be regarded as the practically important differentia of religion for our purpose.

   • 1928, E. M. Edghill, Categories, translation of original by Aristotle:

     If genera are different and co-ordinate, their differentiae are themselves different in kind. Take as an instance the genus ‘animal’ and the genus ‘knowledge’. ‘With feet’, ‘two-footed’, ‘winged’, ‘aquatic’, are differentiae of ‘animal’; the species of knowledge are not distinguished by the same differentiae.

2. (taxonomy) An attribute that distinguishes a species from others of the same genus.

See also

• criterion
• definiendum

Interlingua

Noun

differentia ‎(plural differentias)

1. difference

Latin

Etymology

From differō ‎(“I am different”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /dif.feˈren.ti.a/, [dɪf.fɛˈrɛn.ti.a]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [dif.feˈrɛn.t͡si̯a]

Noun

differentia f ‎(genitive differentiae); first declension

1. difference
2. diversity

Inflection

First declension.

Participle

differentia

1. nominative neuter plural of differens
2. accusative neuter plural of differens
3. vocative neuter plural of differens

References

• differentia in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• differentia in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• DIFFERENTIA in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• Félix Gaffiot (1934), “differentia”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette.