differentia

Example Sentences

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The differentia is that part of a definition which names the difference between the term defined and the general class to which it belongs.

From English: Composition and Literature by Webster, W. F. (William Franklin)

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

It is presupposed, of course, that the behavior with which psychology is concerned is of a distinctive sort; but the differentia is unfortunately the very thing that the "behaviorist" has hitherto left out of account.

From Creative Intelligence Essays in the Pragmatic Attitude by Bode, Boyd H.

“Animal” names the general class, and “reasoning” is the differentia which separates “man” from other “animals.”

From English: Composition and Literature by Webster, W. F. (William Franklin)

If one of them only has this differentia, then this one is composite and is not the first cause.

From A History of Mediaeval Jewish Philosophy by Husik, Isaac