differentiate
Americanverb (used with object)
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to form or mark differently from other such things; distinguish.
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to change; alter.
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to perceive the difference in or between.
- Synonyms:
- separate
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to make different by modification, as a biological species.
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Mathematics. to obtain the differential or the derivative of.
verb (used without object)
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to become unlike or dissimilar; change in character.
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to make a distinction.
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Biology. (of cells or tissues) to change from relatively generalized to specialized kinds, during development.
verb
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(tr) to serve to distinguish between
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to perceive, show, or make a difference (in or between); discriminate
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(intr) to become dissimilar or distinct
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maths to perform a differentiation on (a quantity, expression, etc)
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(intr) (of unspecialized cells, etc) to change during development to more specialized forms
Related Words
See distinguish.
Other Word Forms
- differentiation noun
- differentiator noun
- interdifferentiate verb (used with object)
- redifferentiate verb
- self-differentiating adjective
- undifferentiated adjective
Etymology
Origin of differentiate
First recorded in 1810–20; from Medieval Latin differentiātus distinguished (past participle of differentiāre ), equivalent to Latin different(ia) difference + -ātus -ate 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It requires companies to clearly label AI-generated content such as deepfakes that cannot readily be differentiated from reality.
From Barron's
But it requires a lot of nuance to differentiate between a distillation attack and a company using an AI model for legitimate purposes, he added.
From MarketWatch
“The public doesn’t really differentiate between individual bots,” he told me.
From Los Angeles Times
“When you have that unique, differentiated content and know how to use it—understanding which algorithms and analytics to apply—you know which customer decisions you are supporting,” Luff said.
“And being able to show that as part of a portfolio, this asset provides a differentiated value into the system.”
From Barron's
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.