Definition of "differentiate"

(transitive)

1. To make different; to change, modify.  examples

2. To recognize a distinction or difference between two things.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • The word "then" was differentiated into the two forms "then" and "than".

     1871, John Earle, The Philology of the English Tongue

   • The mass of the rich and poor are differentiated by their incomes and nothing else, and the average millionaire is only the average dishwasher dressed in a new suit.

     1933 January 9, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter XXII, in Down and Out in Paris and London, London: Victor Gollancz […]

3. (mathematics) To calculate the derivative of a function.  examples

4. (mathematics) To calculate the differential of a function of multiple variables.  examples

(intransitive)

1. To perceive the difference between things; to discriminate.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • In the earlier chapters uncouth proper names are reduced to a minimum, but the Index refers by name to specific places and persons only generally mentioned in the earlier pages. For instance, the states of Lu and Chêng on pages 22 and 29 : it is hard enough to differentiate Ts‘i, Tsin, Ts‘in, and Ts‘u at the outstart, without crowding the memory with fresh names until the necessity for it absolutely arises.

     1908, Edward Harper Parker, Ancient China Simplified‎, London: Chapman & Hall, Ltd., page ix

   • he refused to instruct that actual intent to harm or recklessness had to be found before punitive damages could be awarded, or that a verdict for respondent should differentiate between compensatory and punitive damages.

     1964, New York Times v. Sullivan

2. (education) To teach a lesson in multiple different ways in order to meet the needs of more or less advanced students.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • Like most teaching, differentiating is a mix of art and science. When it works, "it's like a jazz rhythm," said Carol Tomlinson, an education professor at the University of Virginia and an expert on differentiation.

     2012 May 16, Michael Alison Chandler, “Teaching for all levels — in one class”, in The Washington Post‎, archived from the original on 2023-02-11

   • Moreover, children of STIP-teachers who showed many types of differentiation activities learnt more than children of STIP-teachers who differentiated less.

     2017 August, Tessa H.S. Eysink, Manon Hulsbeek, Hannie Gijlers, “Supporting primary school teachers in differentiating in the regular classroom”, in Teaching and Teacher Education, volume 66, Amsterdam: Elsevier, page 107116

   • I use technology to differentiate in my Algebra classroom in many different ways. Sometimes, I put this technology in the hands of students and sometimes I use it myself to streamline a process.

     2018 June 22, Larry Ferlazzo, quoting Sarah Shartzer, “Response: Ways to Use Tech to Differentiate Instruction”, in Education Week‎, archived from the original on 2022-05-19

(transitive, intransitive, often in the passive voice, biology) To (cause to) go through a process of development called differentiation; to make or become different in form or function.  quotations

(geology) Something that has been differentiated or stratified.  quotations