differentia

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The formation of such rules, resting as it does on the power of framing and applying general conceptions, is the prime differentia of human morality from animal behavior.

From Introduction to the Science of Sociology by Park, Robert Ezra

To quote the differentia of Sir Oliver Lodge: “A solid has volume and shape; a liquid has volume, but no shape; a gas has neither volume nor shape.”

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 4 "G" to "Gaskell, Elizabeth" by Various

The essential property, the "differentia essentialis," of genuine love, as its nature requires fervency, is the fact that it cannot be embittered.

From Epistle Sermons, Vol. II Epiphany, Easter and Pentecost by Lenker, John Nicholas

This was the object of logicians when they laid down that a species must be defined per genus et differentiam, meaning by the differentia one attribute included in the essence, i.e. in the connotation.

From Analysis of Mr. Mill's System of Logic by Stebbing, W. (William)

Not a little error has resulted from the confusion of thought whereby genus and differentia have been regarded as material and formal constitutives in the literal sense of those expressions.

From Ontology or the Theory of Being by Coffey, Peter