different

Etymology

From Middle English different, from Old French different, from Latin differēns, present active participle of differō (“I differ”); see differ. Broadly ousted the native Old English ungelic.

adj

1. Not the same; exhibiting a difference.
   At Elizabeth-Jane mentioning how greatly Lucetta had been jeopardized, he exhibited an agitation different in kind no less than in intensity from any she had seen in him before. 1886, Thomas Hardy, The Mayor of Casterbridge
   One interesting feature was remarked by Dr. Peters, viz.: that the instrument used for the longitudes of the original catalogue was graduated differently to that used for the latitudes. 1915, Edward Knobel, Ptolemy's Catalogue of Stars – A Revision of the Almagest, page 14 (showing that "to" was used by an Englishman in 1915)
   Enter the American tourist. He thinks of himself as a good guy but when he looks in the mirror to shave this good guy he has to admit that "well, other people are different from me and I don't really like them." This makes him feel guilty toward other people. 1971, William S. Burroughs, The Wild Boys: A Book of the Dead, page 6
   Irregular bedtimes may disrupt healthy brain development in young children, according to a study of intelligence and sleeping habits. ¶ Going to bed at a different time each night affected girls more than boys, but both fared worse on mental tasks than children who had a set bedtime, researchers found. 2013-07-19, Ian Sample, “Irregular bedtimes may affect children's brains”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 34
2. Various, assorted, diverse.
   In any case, poor black respondents living in high-poverty neighborhoods are most likely to view their neighborhood as a single block or block group and to use this definition consistently when asked about different neighborhood characteristics and activities. 2006, Delbert S. Elliott et al., Good Kids from Bad Neighborhoods: Successful Development in Social Context, Cambridge University Press, page 19
3. Distinct, separate; used for emphasis after numbers and other determiners of quantity.
   Similar studies of rats have employed four different intracranial resorbable, slow sustained release systems—surgical foam, a thermal gel depot, a microcapsule or biodegradable polymer beads. 2013 May-June, Charles T. Ambrose, “Alzheimer’s Disease”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, page 200
   Several different scientists all reached this conclusion at about the same time.
4. Unlike most others; unusual.

noun

1. (mathematics) The different ideal.

adv

1. Differently.