English
difference
Difference comes from Middle English difference, from Old French difference, from Latin differentia, from differēns, participle of differō ‘to differ’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰer-‘to bear’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰéreti‘to be carrying’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*ferō‘to carry’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEferō‘to bear’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdifferō‘to carry different ways’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdifferēns‘different’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdifferentia
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400difference
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘difference’
- Englishearliest quotation 1590same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰer-‘to bear’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰéreti‘to be carrying’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*ferō‘to carry’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEferō‘to bear’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdifferō‘to carry different ways’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdifferēns‘different’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdifferentia
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400difference
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘difference’
- Englishearliest quotation 1590same form
Earliest quotation: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book II, Canto XII: “That now be chooseth with vile difference To be…”
Formed from differ + -ence
Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- ‘to bear, carry’
…
Latin ferō ‘carry, bear’
Latin differō ‘carry apart, put off, defer’
Old French differer ‘to differ’
Middle English differren ‘to postpone or defer’
English differ
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- ‘to bear, carry’
bar, birth, broad, bread, fortune, bearing, burden, prefer, barrel, barn, fury, baron, bark, bore, breeze, broom, barrow, embargo, berth, fret, ferret, furtive, insufferable, bahar, bier, birr, bairn, burnish, barrette, proffer, 120 more
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰéreti ‘to be carrying’
bear, borne, phosphate, phosphorus, euphoria, dysphoria, semaphore, phosphine, 98 more
through Proto-Italic *ferō ‘to carry, bear’
suffering, infertility, infertile, 74 more
through Latin ferō ‘to bear’
offer, transfer, translation, relative, extraordinary, relation, relate, frustration, suffer, translate, reference, strangely, fertility, referendum, extravagant, referee, fertile, frustrate, elated, infra, confer, fertilization, infer, extraneous, ablation, elation, collation, strangeness, collate, fertilize, ablative, oblate, estrange, deference, deferential, efferent, 77 more
through Latin differō ‘to carry different ways, spread, scatter,…’
defer, dilate, indifferently, 44 more
through Latin differēns ‘different’
Today it means
noun The quality of being different.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- / difference