Word.ws English Dictionary

differing

differing is the present participle and gerund of differ.

Meaning of differ

Verb

differ (third-person singular simple present differs, present participle differing, simple past and past participle differed)

  1. (intransitive) 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
    1. (intransitive) To be separated in quantity.
      • The numbers 3 and 21 differ by 18.
    2. (intransitive, usually, people, groups) To have diverging opinions, disagree.
      • May 11, 1827, George Canning, Changes in the Administration
        I differ from the honourable baronet on both these subjects

See all 4 meanings of differ

Noun

differing (plural differings)

  1. difference
    • I knew nothing then of the great differings and philosophizings, the setting up and tearing down of fine lines technically and aesthetically between the two that had been going on among the devotees of each […]1983, Robert Bator, Signposts to criticism of children's literature
    • It is the differings and deferrings of language that produce meanings, truths and values […]2007, Youru Wang, Deconstruction and the Ethical in Asian Thought

Adjective

differing (comparative more differing, superlative most differing)

  1. unlike, dissimilar, distinct; that which differs
    • A priority for the new pope will be to strengthen the church’s unity amid differing views and expectations within the institution and growing polarisation in the wider world.2025 May 8, Angela Giuffrida and Harriet Sherwood, “White smoke from Sistine Chapel chimney signals election of new pope”, in The Guardian

Forms of differing

Noun
pluraldifferings
Adjective
comparativemore differing
superlativemost differing

Words formed from differing

Questions about differing

What does differing mean?
Differing means difference.
What is differing the present participle and gerund of?
Differing is the present participle and gerund of differ.
What part of speech is differing?
Differing can be a noun or an adjective.
What is the plural of differing?
The plural of differing is differings.

Words near differing in the dictionary

  1. differentnesses
  2. differents
  3. differest
  4. differeth
  5. Differin
  6. differing
  7. differingly
  8. differings
  9. differintegral
  10. differintegrals
  11. differs

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: differing (page history and authors); differ (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.

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