differential

verb

calculate percentages of blood cells
constituting or contributing to making a distinction between entities

L1506267 on Wikidata ↗

adjective

infinitesimal quantity in calculus

L227707 on Wikidata ↗

noun

infinitesimal quantity in calculus

L319441 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: [dɪfəˈɹənʃəɫ]

adj

Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ Proto-Indo-European *d(w)is- Proto-Italic *dis- Latin dis- Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- Proto-Indo-European *bʰéreti Proto-Italic *ferō Latin ferō Latin differō Latin differēns Proto-Indo-European *-yós Proto-Italic *-ios Old Latin -ios Latin -ius Latin -ia Latin differentia Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-der.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālis Latin differentiālislbor. English differential Learned borrowing from Latin differentiālis. By surface analysis, different + -ial.

Of or pertaining to a difference.
“differential characteristics”
“I saved disk space by taking differential backups, which only stored the data that had changed.”
Dependent on, or making a difference; distinctive.
Having differences in speed or direction of motion.
Of or pertaining to differentiation or the differential calculus.

noun

The differential gear in an automobile, etc.
A qualitative or quantitative difference between similar or comparable things.
One of two coils of conducting wire so related to one another or to a magnet or armature common to both, that one coil produces polar action contrary to that of the other.
A form of conductor used for dividing and distributing the current to a series of electric lamps so as to maintain equal action in all.
A quantity representing an infinitesimal change in a variable, now only used as a heuristic aid except in nonstandard analysis but considered rigorous until the 20th century; a fluxion in Newtonian calculus, now usually written in Leibniz's notation as operatorname d!x.
A function giving the change in the linear approximation of f at a point x over a small interval Δx or operatorname d!x, the function being called the differential of f and denoted operatorname d!f(x,Δx), operatorname d!f(x), or simply operatorname d!f.
“If f(x)#61;x², the differential of f is the function #92;operatorname#123;d#125;#92;#33;f(x,#92;Deltax)#61;f'(x)#92;Deltax#61;2x#92;Deltax.”
A function giving the change in the linear approximation of f at a point x over a small interval Δx or operatorname d!x, the function being called the differential of f and denoted operatorname d!f(x,Δx), operatorname d!f(x), or simply operatorname d!f.
The Jacobian matrix of a function of several variables.
The pushforward or total derivative of ϕ: a linear map from the tangent space at a point x in ϕ's domain to the tangent space at ϕ(x) which is, in a technical sense, the best linear approximation of ϕ at x; denoted operatorname d!ϕₓ.
Any of several generalizations of the concept(s) above: e.g. the Kähler differential in the setting of schemes, the quadratic differential in the theory of Riemann surfaces, etc.