DIFFERENT

different

(adjective) differing from all others; not ordinary; “advertising that strives continually to be different”; “this new music is certainly different but I don’t really like it”

different

(adjective) unlike in nature or quality or form or degree; “took different approaches to the problem”; “came to a different conclusion”; “different parts of the country”; “on different sides of the issue”; “this meeting was different from the earlier one”

different

(adjective) distinctly separate from the first; “that’s another (or different) issue altogether”

different

(adjective) distinct or separate; “each interviewed different members of the community”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Adjective

different (comparative more different, superlative most different)

Not the same; exhibiting a difference.

Various, assorted, diverse.

Distinct, separate; used for emphasis after numbers and other determiners of quantity.

Unlike most others; unusual.

Usage notes

• (not the same): Depending on dialect, time period, and register, the adjective different may be construed with one of the prepositions from, to, and than, or with the subordinating conjunction than.

Pleasure is different from/than/to happiness.

It's different than (or from what) I expected.

Of these, from is more common in formal registers than in informal ones, and more common in the US than elsewhere; than is more common in the US than elsewhere; and to is more common in the UK, in Australia, and in New Zealand than in the US. Style guides often advocate different from, by analogy with differ from rather than *differ than or *differ to, and proscribe different than and different to.

Synonyms

• (not the same): other; See also different

• (various): sundry; See also assorted

• (distinct): apart, distinct; See also separate

• (unlike most others): aberrant, deviant, nonstandard; See also strange

Antonyms

• (not the same): alike, identical, same, similar

• (various): homogeneous

• (distinct): coherent, indistinct, unified

• (unlike most others): normal, usual; See also normal

• (all senses): undifferent

Noun

different (plural differents)

(mathematics) The different ideal.

Adverb

different (comparative more different, superlative most different)

Differently.

Source: Wiktionary

Dif"fer*ent, a. Etym: [L. differens, -entis, p. pr. of differre: cf. F. différent.]

1. Distinct; separate; not the same; other. "Five different churches." Addison.

2. Of various or contrary nature, form, or quality; partially or totally unlike; dissimilar; as, different kinds of food or drink; different states of health; different shapes; different degrees of excellence. Men are as different from each other, as the regions in which they are born are different. Dryden.

Note: Different is properly followed by from. Different to, for different from, is a common English colloquialism. Different than is quite inadmissible.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition