differ
Syllables: dif·ferUK/ˈdɪfə//ˈdɪfɚ/
differ verb: not to have the same traits or characteristics; to be unalike or distinct.
Verb
differ (third-person singular simple present differs, present participle differing, simple past and past participle differed)
- Not to have the same traits or characteristics; to be unalike or distinct.
- When we look to the individuals of the same variety or sub-variety of our older cultivated plants and animals, one of the first points which strikes us, is, that they generally differ much more from each other, than do the individuals of any one species or variety in a state of nature.1859, Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species
- These shoes only differ from those ones in having slightly longer laces.
- To be separated in quantity.
- The numbers 3 and 21 differ by 18.
- To have diverging opinions, disagree.
- May 11, 1827, George Canning, Changes in the Administration
I differ from the honourable baronet on both these subjects - Historical interpretation has differed over the role played by the king of Denmark and Norway in the impignoration of the islands.1969, “The Pawning of Orkney and Shetland: A Reconsideration of the Events of 1460-9”, in The Scottish Historical Review, volume 48, number 145, Edinburgh University Press, →OCLC, page 35
- May 11, 1827, George Canning, Changes in the Administration
Noun
differ (plural differs)
differ meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam
differ in Tamil
- not to have the same characteristics
- வேறுபடு vēṟupaṭu
differ in Urdu
- مختلف ہونا, ممیز ہونا
differ in Bengali
- বিসদৃশ হওয়া, ভিন্নমত হওয়া, প্রতিবাদ করা, বিবাদ করা
differ in Malayalam
- വ്യത്യസ്തമാകുക, വിയോജിക്കുക, വിസമ്മതിക്കുക, വിഭിന്നമാവുക
More languagesFewer languages
- differ in Kannada
- ಬೇರೆಯಾಗಿರು, ಹೋಲದಿರು, ಒಪ್ಪದಿರು, ಭಿನ್ನಾಭಿಪ್ರಾಯ ಹೊಂದು
- differ in Arabic
- اِخْتَلَفَ iḵtalafa
- differ in Indonesian
- beda, berbeda, berlainan
- differ in Vietnamese
- khác, không giống
Examples of differ in a sentence
- It differs from the common blackbird in the size of its beak.
- The tenor of Eliot's prosaic work differs greatly from that of his poetry.
- Her writing has undergone a transformation; her newer works differ from the older ones in spirit.
Synonyms of differ
Antonyms
Forms of differ
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | differs |
| present participle | differing |
| past participle | differed |
| past | differed |
| Noun | |
| plural | differs |
Origin of differ
From Middle English differren, from Old French differer, from Latin differō (“carry apart, put off, defer; differ”), from dis- (“apart”) + ferō (“carry, bear”). Compare Ancient Greek διαφέρω (diaphérō). Doublet of defer and dilate, see also infer, confer and collate, refer and relate, as well as prefer and prelate among others.
From diff + -er.
Words formed from differ
- agree to differ
- beg to differ
- your mileage may differ
Phrases with differ
Words that rhyme with differ
Questions about differ
- What does differ mean?
- Differ means not to have the same traits or characteristics; to be unalike or distinct.
- What is differ in Tamil?
- Differ in Tamil is வேறுபடு (vēṟupaṭu). See Differ meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is differ?
- Differ can be a verb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce differ?
- Differ is pronounced /ˈdɪfə/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of differ?
- The past tense of differ is differed.
Words near differ in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: differ (page history and authors); differ (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); differ (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); differ (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); differ (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-differ.ogg.
Cite this entry: “differ.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/differ. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.