English
differential
Differential comes from Latin differentiālis.
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English differential
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1856, John Lothrop Motley, The Rise of the Dutch Republic: A History: “[Caspar Schetz, Baron of Grobbendonck] was regularly in the…”.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdifferentiālisWiktionary, English differential
- Englishearliest quotation 1856differentialWiktionary, English differential. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1856, John Lothrop Motley, The Rise of the Dutch Republic: A History: “[Caspar Schetz, Baron of Grobbendonck] was regularly in the…”
A compound of differō ‘to carry different ways, spread, scatter,…’ + differēns ‘spreading, scattering, dispersing, separating’ + -ia + differentia
Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- ‘to bear, carry’
Proto-Indo-European *bʰéreti ‘to be carrying’
Proto-Italic *ferō ‘to carry, bear’
Latin ferō ‘to bear’
Latin differō ‘to carry different ways, spread, scatter, disperse, separate’
Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- ‘to bear, carry’
Proto-Indo-European *bʰéreti ‘to be carrying’
Proto-Italic *ferō ‘to carry, bear’
Latin ferō ‘to bear’
Latin differō ‘to carry different ways, spread, scatter, disperse, separate’
Latin differēns ‘spreading, scattering, dispersing, separating’
Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- ‘to bear, carry’
Proto-Indo-European *bʰéreti ‘to be carrying’
Proto-Italic *ferō ‘to carry, bear’
Latin ferō ‘to bear’
Latin differō ‘to carry different ways, spread, scatter, disperse, separate’
Latin differēns ‘spreading, scattering, dispersing, separating’
Latin differentia
Every English word from Latin differentiālis
Today it means
adj Of or pertaining to a difference.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “differential”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Latin differentiālis / differential