Etymology

differential

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Today it means: Of or pertaining to a difference. Full definition →

Latin differentiāli ← Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.? ← Proto-Italic *ferō
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*dwóh₁
  2. Proto-Indo-European*trísinflu.
  3. Proto-Indo-European*d(w)is-
  4. Proto-Italic*dis-
  5. Latindis-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*bʰer-
  7. Proto-Indo-European*bʰéreti
  8. Proto-Italic*ferō
  9. Latinferō
  10. Latindifferō
  11. Latindifferēns
  12. Latindifferentia
  13. Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
  14. Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
  15. Latindifferentiāli
  16. English todaydifferential

Learned borrowing from Latin differentiālis. By surface analysis, different + -ial.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.