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Better vs Difference - What's the difference?

better | difference |

As nouns the difference between better and difference

is that better is an entity, usually animate, deemed superior to another; one who has a claim to precedence; a superior or better can be while difference is difference.

As an adjective better

is (good).

As an adverb better

is .

As a verb better

is to improve.

better

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) better, bettre, betre, from (etyl) .

Adjective

(head)
  • (good)
  • * {{quote-video, date = 2002-11-01
  • , title = , episode = , number = 4 , passage = Badger:'' You think you're better''' than other people.
    ''Mal:'' Just the ones I'm '
    better than. }}
  • (well)
  • larger, greater
  • Derived terms
    * better dead than red * better half * better off * betterness * better part of * get better

    Adverb

    (head)
  • * 1901 , ,
  • “I’ve had enough of cycling with you chaps. I can spend my Sundays better than in tormenting cats and quarrelling and fighting.”
  • More, in reference to value, distance, time, etc.
  • ten miles and better
    Derived terms
    * had better * 'd better

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To improve.
  • * Wordsworth
  • Love betters what is best.
  • * Thackeray
  • He thought to better his circumstances.
  • * Macaulay
  • the constant effort of every man to better himself
  • To become better; to improve.
  • (Carlyle)
  • To surpass in excellence; to exceed; to excel.
  • * Hooker
  • The works of nature do always aim at that which can not be bettered .
  • To give advantage to; to support; to advance the interest of.
  • * Milton
  • Weapons more violent, when next we meet, / May serve to better us and worse our foes.
  • (slang) Had better.
  • You better do that if you know what's good for you.
    Derived terms
    * betterer * betterment
    Synonyms
    * See also

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An entity, usually animate, deemed superior to another; one who has a claim to precedence; a superior.
  • He quickly found Ali his better in the ring.
  • * Hooker
  • Their betters would hardly be found.

    Derived terms

    * get the better of

    Etymology 2

    Alternate pronunciation of (bettor) or modern formation from the verb to (bet).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Statistics

    * 1000 English basic words ----

    difference

    English

    Noun

  • (uncountable) The quality of being different.
  • (countable) A characteristic of something that makes it different from something else.
  • * {{quote-magazine, title=Towards the end of poverty
  • , date=2013-06-01, volume=407, issue=8838, page=11, magazine=(The Economist) citation , passage=But poverty’s scourge is fiercest below $1.25 (the average of the 15 poorest countries’ own poverty lines, measured in 2005 dollars and adjusted for differences in purchasing power): people below that level live lives that are poor, nasty, brutish and short.}}
  • (countable) A disagreement or argument.
  • We have our little differences , but we are firm friends.
  • * Shakespeare
  • What was the difference ? It was a contention in public.
  • * T. Ellwood
  • Away therefore went I with the constable, leaving the old warden and the young constable to compose their difference as they could.
  • (countable, uncountable) Significant change in or effect on a situation or state.
  • * 1908 , (Kenneth Grahame), (The Wind in the Willows)
  • The line of the horizon was clear and hard against the sky, and in one particular quarter it showed black against a silvery climbing phosphorescence that grew and grew. At last, over the rim of the waiting earth the moon lifted with slow majesty till it swung clear of the horizon and rode off, free of moorings; and once more they began to see surfaces—meadows wide-spread, and quiet gardens, and the river itself from bank to bank, all softly disclosed, all washed clean of mystery and terror, all radiant again as by day, but with a difference that was tremendous.
  • (countable) The result of a subtraction; sometimes the absolute value of this result.
  • (obsolete) Choice; preference.
  • * Spenser
  • That now be chooseth with vile difference / To be a beast, and lack intelligence.
  • (heraldry) An addition to a coat of arms to distinguish two people's bearings which would otherwise be the same. See augmentation and cadency.
  • (logic) The quality or attribute which is added to those of the genus to constitute a species; a differentia.
  • (logic circuits) A Boolean operation which is TRUE when the two input variables are different but is otherwise FALSE; the XOR operation (\scriptstyle A \overline B + \overline A B).
  • (relational algebra) the set of elements that are in one set but not another (\scriptstyle A \overline B).
  • Synonyms

    * (characteristic of something that makes it different from something else) departure, deviation, divergence * (disagreement or argument about something important) conflict, difference of opinion, dispute, dissension * (result of a subtraction) remainder * (significant change in state) nevermind

    Antonyms

    * (quality of being different) identity, sameness

    Derived terms

    * distinction without a difference * creative differences * difference engine * difference equation * difference gate * difference of two squares * goal difference * same difference * split the difference * spot the difference * tell the difference

    See also

    * addition, summation: (augend) + (addend) = (summand) × (summand) = (sum, total) * subtraction: (minuend) ? (subtrahend) = (difference) * multiplication: (multiplier) × (multiplicand) = (factor) × (factor) = (product) * division: (dividend) ÷ (divisor) = (quotient), remainder left over if divisor does not divide dividend

    Verb

    (differenc)
  • To distinguish or differentiate.
  • (en)

    Synonyms

    * (to distinguish or differentiate) differentiate, distinguish