Difference Meaning

/ˈdɪf(ə)ɹəns/
A1

Definition, CEFR level A1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

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nounThe quality of being different.

nounA characteristic of something that makes it different from something else.

In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. But, in practice, there is.
I hope you have brains enough to see the difference.
Do they even know the difference between good and evil?
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
Can you see a clear ____ between the two identical-looking twins?
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
In theory, there is no ____ between theory and practice. But, in practice, there is.

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ Proto-Indo-European *d(w)is- Proto-Italic *dis- Latin dis- Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- Proto-Indo-European *bʰéreti Proto-Italic *ferō Latin ferō Latin differō Latin differēns Proto-Indo-European *-yós Proto-Italic *-ios Old Latin -ios Latin -ius Latin -ia Latin differentiader. Old French differencebor. Middle English difference English difference From Middle English difference, from Old French difference, from Latin differentia (“difference”), from differēns (“different”), present participle of differre. Doublet of differentia. Morphologically differ + -ence.

"But poverty’s scourge is fiercest below $1.25 (the average of the 15 poorest countries’ own poverty lines, measured in 2005 dollars and adjusted for differences in purchasing power): people below that level live lives that are poor, nasty, brutish and short." — 2013 June 1, “Towards the end of poverty”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, page 11:
"What was the difference? It was a contention in public." — 1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene v]:
"Away therefore went I with the constable, leaving the old warden and the young constable to compose their difference as they could." — 1714, Thomas Ellwood, The History of the Life of Thomas Ellwood: written by his own hand:
"The line of the horizon was clear and hard against the sky, and in one particular quarter it showed black against a silvery climbing phosphorescence that grew and grew. At last, over the rim of the waiting earth the moon lifted with slow majesty till it swung clear of the horizon and rode off, free of moorings; and once more they began to see surfaces—meadows wide-spread, and quiet gardens, and the river itself from bank to bank, all softly disclosed, all washed clean of mystery and terror, all radiant again as by day, but with a difference that was tremendous." — 1908 October, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC:
"As she did so Fanny put down her book , stood up and stretched her arms, and at once Jessamy noticed a difference. It was the same Fanny but not the Fanny who climbed trees and tore her frock playing in the garden. It was as though a young lady film had settled over her, neatening her unruly hair, which was tied back with a large black bow, and primly composing her small mouth." — 1967, Barbara Sleigh, Jessamy, Sevenoaks, Kent: Bloomsbury, published 1993, →ISBN, page 105:

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CEFR Practice Quiz
Can you see a clear ____ between the two identical-looking twins?
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
In theory, there is no ____ between theory and practice. But, in practice, there is.

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