DIFFERENTIA • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Differentia

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Differentia

noun

(pl. differentiae)

Distinguishing characteristics (especially in different species of a genus).

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Etymology of 'Differentia'

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"Differentia" Quotes from Famous Books

... of what gardens, after all, are meant to produce, in the decay of time, as we may think at first sight, the systematic, logical gardener put his meddlesome hand, and straightway all ran to seed; to genus and species and differentia, into formal classes, under general notions, and with—yes! with written labels fluttering on the stalks, instead of blossoms—a botanic or "physic" garden, as they used to say, instead of our flower-garden and orchard. And yet (it must be confessed ...

— Plato and Platonism • Walter Horatio Pater

... but only to save the labour of enumerating the several simple ideas which the next general word or GENUS stands for; or, perhaps, sometimes the shame of not being able to do it. But though defining by GENUS and DIFFERENTIA (I crave leave to use these terms of art, though originally Latin, since they most properly suit those notions they are applied to), I say, though defining by the GENUS be the shortest way, yet I think it may be ...

— An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding, Volume II. - MDCXC, Based on the 2nd Edition, Books III. and IV. (of 4) • John Locke

Words linked to "Differentia" : difference