Differ

How to spell differ

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce differ

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does differ mean?

1. verbTo be unlike or distinct from something else in nature, form, or quality.
2. verbTo hold a different opinion from someone; to disagree.

Differ in a sentence

• The two reports differ only in the final figures.

• The experts continue to differ about the safest course of treatment.

• Prices can differ widely from one supplier to the next.

• The auditors respectfully differ with the board on this decision.

Where does differ come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes from the Latin verb differre, which combined dis-, meaning 'apart', with ferre, meaning 'to carry or bear', so the literal sense was 'to carry apart' or 'to set apart'. From that root Latin developed two ideas at once: things that are carried apart end up being unlike one another, and the same verb could also mean to delay or postpone. English took the word in through Old French in the late 1300s, keeping the 'be unlike' meaning, while the 'postpone' meaning split off into the separate English word 'defer'. The single 'f' followed by '-fer' is the spelling trap, since writers sometimes double the consonant by analogy with words like 'differing' or 'difference'. Knowing the root is ferre, the very same root inside 'transfer', 'refer' and 'prefer', helps fix that there is only one 'f' before the '-fer'.

How the word is built

• dif- (variant of dis-, apart)
• -fer (from Latin ferre, to carry or bear)