differential

[dif-uh-ren-shuhl]

adjective

1. of or relating to difference or diversity.

2. constituting a difference; distinguishing; distinctive.

   a differential feature.

3. exhibiting or depending upon a difference or distinction.

4. Physics, Machinery.,  pertaining to or involving the difference of two or more motions, forces, etc.

5. Mathematics.,  pertaining to or involving a derivative or derivatives.

noun

1. a difference or the amount of difference, as in rate, cost, quantity, degree, or quality, between things that are comparable.

2. Also called differential gear. Machinery.,  an epicyclic train of gears designed to permit two or more shafts to rotate at different speeds, as a set of gears in an automobile permitting the rear wheels to be driven at different speeds when the car is turning.

3. Mathematics.

   1. a function of two variables that is obtained from a given function, y = f (x ), and that expresses the approximate increment in the given function as the derivative of the function times the increment in the independent variable, written as dy = f′ (x ) dx.

   2. any generalization of this function to higher dimensions.

4. Commerce.

   1. the difference involved in a differential rate.

   2. differential rate.

5. Physics.,  the quantitative difference between two or more forces, motions, etc..

   a pressure differential.

differential

/ ˌdɪfəˈrɛnʃəl /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or using a difference

2. constituting a difference; distinguishing

3. maths of, containing, or involving one or more derivatives or differentials

4. physics engineering relating to, operating on, or based on the difference between two effects, motions, forces, etc

   differential amplifier

noun

1. a factor that differentiates between two comparable things

2. maths

   1. an increment in a given function, expressed as the product of the derivative of that function and the corresponding increment in the independent variable

   2. an increment in a given function of two or more variables, f( x 1 , x 2 , … xn ), expressed as the sum of the products of each partial derivative and the increment in the corresponding variable

3. an epicyclic gear train that permits two shafts to rotate at different speeds while being driven by a third shaft See also differential gear

4. the difference between rates of pay for different types of labour, esp when forming a pay structure within an industry

5. (in commerce) a difference in rates, esp between comparable labour services or transportation routes

differential

1. An infinitesimal increment in a variable.

2. The product of the derivative of a function of one variable and the increment of the independent variable.

Other Word Forms

• differentially adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of differential¹

1640–50; < Medieval Latin differentiālis, equivalent to differenti ( a ) difference + ālis -al ¹

Example Sentences

What "differential fee levels" could look like is yet to be determined.

From BBC

So Scottish salmon gets an advantage over Norwegian, a differential that will also distort other markets.

From BBC

The Atlanta Hawks and Minnesota Timberwolves also went unbeaten but did not advance to the tournament based on tiebreakers, the first of which is point differential.

From Los Angeles Times

“Compared to domestic cars in a similar price range, they just don’t have as many features and there’s just too big of a cost differential when it comes to general maintenance like aftermarket service.”

From Los Angeles Times

As a result, the team has the fewest wins, has given up the most goals and has the worst goal differential in the league.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• characteristic 
• contrast 
• difference 
• differentiation 
• discrepancy 
• discrimination 
• divergence 
• division 
• judgment 
• nicety 
• perception 
• quality 
• sensitivity 
• separation