Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Difference

Dif′fer·ence (dĭf′fẽr·ens), n. [F. différence, 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.

3. That by which one thing differs from another; that which distinguishes or causes to differ; mark of distinction; characteristic quality; specific attribute.

The marks and differences of sovereignty. Davies.

4. Choice; preference. [Obs.]

That now he chooseth with vile difference To be a beast, and lack intelligence. Spenser.

5. (Her.) An addition to a coat of arms to distinguish the bearings of two persons, which would otherwise be the same. See Augmentation, and Marks of cadency, under Cadency.

6. (Logic) The quality or attribute which is added to those of the genus to constitute a species; a differentia.

7. (Math.) The quantity by which one quantity differs from another, or the remainder left after subtracting the one from the other.

Ascensional difference. See under Ascensional.

Syn. — Distinction; dissimilarity; dissimilitude; variation; diversity; variety; contrariety; disagreement; variance; contest; contention; dispute; controversy; debate; quarrel; wrangle; strife.

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.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.