differentiate
verb
dif·fer·en·ti·ate
| \ ˌdi-fə-ˈren(t)-shē-ˌāt
\
\
differentiated;
differentiating
Definition of differentiate
2
: to mark or show a difference in : constitute a contrasting element that distinguishes
features that differentiate the twins how we differentiate ourselves from our competitors
3
: to develop differential or distinguishing characteristics in
What differentiated a laborer from another man …— Sherwood Anderson
4
biology
: to cause differentiation (see differentiation sense 3b) of in the course of development
cells that are differentiated from stem cells
5
: to express the specific distinguishing quality of : discriminate
differentiate poetry and prose
1
: to recognize or give expression to a difference
difficult to differentiate between the two
2
: to become distinct or different in character
3
biology
: to undergo differentiation (see differentiation sense 3b)
when the cells begin to differentiate
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Other Words from differentiate
differentiability
\ ˌdi-fə-ˌren(t)-sh(ē-)ə-ˈbi-lə-tē
\
noun
\
noun
differentiable
\ ˌdi-fə-ˈren(t)-sh(ē-)ə-bəl
\
adjective
\
adjective
Synonyms & Antonyms for differentiate
Synonyms
difference, discern, discriminate, distinguish, secern, separate
Antonyms
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Examples of differentiate in a Sentence
The only thing that differentiates the twins is the color of their eyes.
it was hard at first to differentiate between the two styles of music
Recent Examples on the Web
Lowenstein questioned whether toxicology results could differentiate whether a crash was caused by falling asleep at the wheel as opposed to intoxication. — Julia Sclafani, Daily Pilot, "Man charged with murder in death of Costa Mesa fire captain had 7 substances in his blood, expert testifies," 22 Aug. 2019 What differentiates China and the US? Become a member to keep reading this story and unlock unlimited access to all of Quartz. — Echo Huang, Quartz, "An entrepreneur explains why government regulation is the key to a thriving self-driving vehicle industry in China," 19 Aug. 2019 DeWine has taken care to differentiate his proposal from his predecessor's. — Jessie Balmert, Cincinnati.com, "Would Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine's 'red flag' proposal pass the Ohio legislature? We asked every lawmaker.," 16 Aug. 2019 John the Baptist also holds his traditional reed staff, differentiating the naked baby from the infant Jesus. — Jason Daley, Smithsonian, "Imaging Reveals Leonardo da Vinci Wrestled With the Composition for ‘Virgin of the Rocks’," 15 Aug. 2019 The biggest question, then, is how will games differentiate themselves and become hits in this new business model? — Eamon Barrett, Fortune, "What Is Bytedance Searching For?—Data Sheet," 13 Aug. 2019 For people who rarely use the S Pen, Samsung is attempting to differentiate the Galaxy Note10 by shipping it with more base storage and RAM, including an advanced vapor chamber cooling system, and optimizing the software in certain ways. — Lauren Goode, WIRED, "Samsung’s New Galaxy Note Now Comes in Two Different Sizes," 7 Aug. 2019 Intel still offers Core i3, i5, and i7 processor families, differentiating their good-better-best status. — Mark Hachman, PCWorld, "Intel launches 10th-gen 'Ice Lake' chips, pushing hard on graphics for notebook PCs," 1 Aug. 2019 In a world dominated by Samsung and Huawei, Sony needed to give people a specific, differentiating reason to consider its phones. — Dieter Bohn, The Verge, "Sony Xperia 1 review: tall phone falls short," 8 July 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'differentiate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for differentiate
differentiate
verb
English Language Learners Definition of differentiate
: to make (someone or something) different in some way
: to see or state the difference or differences between two or more things
See the full definition for differentiate in the English Language Learners Dictionary
differentiate
verb
dif·fer·en·ti·ate
| \ ˌdi-fə-ˈren-shē-ˌāt
\
\
differentiated;
differentiating
Kids Definition of differentiate
1
: to make or become different
What differentiates the cars?
2
: to recognize or state the difference between
I can't differentiate the two colors.
differentiate
verb
dif·fer·en·ti·ate
| \ ˌdif-ə-ˈren-chē-ˌāt
\
\
differentiated;
differentiating
Medical Definition of differentiate
1
: to constitute a difference that distinguishes
the history of the injury also differentiates these two fractures