English
different
Different comes from Latin differēns ‘spreading, scattering, dispersing, separating’, from differō ‘to differ’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- ‘to bear, carry’.
- 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 differ’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdifferēns‘spreading’present active participle of differō
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400different
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500different
- Englishearliest quotation 1843different
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
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 differ’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdifferēns‘spreading’present active participle of differō
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400different
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500different
- Englishearliest quotation 1843different
Earliest quotation: 1843, The Port Phillip Gazette, Victoria: “[I]f they view it in the same light as…”
The story
Mostly supplanted native Old English ungelic in common usage, which lives on as unalike in Modern English.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- ‘to bear, carry’
bar, birth, broad, bread, fortune, bearing, burden, prefer, barn, barrel, fury, baron, bark, bore, breeze, broom, barrow, embargo, berth, fret, furtive, ferret, insufferable, bahar, bier, birr, bairn, burnish, barrette, proffer, 121 more
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰéreti ‘to be carrying’
bear, borne, phosphate, phosphorus, euphoria, dysphoria, semaphore, phosphine, 99 more
through Proto-Italic *ferō ‘to carry, bear’
suffering, infertility, infertile, 75 more
through Latin ferō ‘to bear’
offer, transfer, translation, relative, extraordinary, relation, reference, relate, frustration, translate, suffer, strangely, fertility, referendum, referee, fertile, extravagant, frustrate, elated, infra, confer, fertilization, extraneous, ablation, infer, elation, collation, strangeness, collate, deference, ablative, fertilize, oblate, estrange, deferential, efferent, 78 more
through Latin differō ‘to differ’
through Latin differēns ‘differing, different’
Today it means
adj Not the same; exhibiting a difference.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- / different