dif ‧ fe ‧ ren ‧ ti ‧ ate AC /ˌdɪfəˈrenʃieɪt/ BrE AmE verb
[ Word Family: verb : ↑ differ , ↑ differentiate ; noun : ↑ difference , ↑ differentiation ; adverb : ↑ differently ; adjective : ↑ different ]
1 . [intransitive and transitive] to recognize or express the difference between things or people SYN distinguish
differentiate between
It’s important to differentiate between fact and opinion.
differentiate something from something
It’s sometimes hard to differentiate one sample from another.
2 . [transitive] to be the quality, feature etc that makes one thing or person clearly different from another SYN distinguish :
What differentiates these two periods of history?
differentiate something from something
Its unusual nesting habits differentiate this bird from others.
3 . [intransitive] to behave differently towards someone or something, especially in an unfair way SYN discriminate
differentiate between
a policy which differentiates between men and women
—differentiation /ˌdɪfərenʃiˈeɪʃ ə n/ noun [uncountable] :
socio-economic differentiation