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Synonyms

differentiate

American  
[dif-uh-ren-shee-eyt] / ˌdɪf əˈrɛn ʃiˌeɪt /

verb (used with object)

differentiated, differentiating
  1. to form or mark differently from other such things; distinguish.

  2. to change; alter.

  3. to perceive the difference in or between.

    Synonyms:
    separate
  4. to make different by modification, as a biological species.

  5. Mathematics. to obtain the differential or the derivative of.


verb (used without object)

differentiated, differentiating
  1. to become unlike or dissimilar; change in character.

  2. to make a distinction.

  3. Biology. (of cells or tissues) to change from relatively generalized to specialized kinds, during development.

differentiate British  
/ ˌdɪfəˈrɛnʃɪˌeɪt /

verb

  1. (tr) to serve to distinguish between

  2. to perceive, show, or make a difference (in or between); discriminate

  3. (intr) to become dissimilar or distinct

  4. maths to perform a differentiation on (a quantity, expression, etc)

  5. (intr) (of unspecialized cells, etc) to change during development to more specialized forms

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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.

From The Wall Street Journal

“And being able to show that as part of a portfolio, this asset provides a differentiated value into the system.”

From Barron's