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Delineate vs Differentiate - What's the difference?

delineate | differentiate |

As verbs the difference between delineate and differentiate

is that delineate is to sketch out, draw or trace an outline while differentiate is to show, or be the distinction between two things.

delineate

English

Verb

(delineat)
  • To sketch out, draw or trace an outline.
  • To depict, represent with pictures.
  • To describe or depict with words or gestures.
  • To outline or mark out.
  • Synonyms

    * (to mark the limits or boundaries) (l), (l), (l)

    Derived terms

    * (l) * (l) * (l)

    differentiate

    English

    Verb

    (differentiat)
  • To show, or be the distinction between two things.
  • * Earle
  • The word "then" was differentiated into the two forms "then" and "than".
  • * {{quote-book, year=1933
  • , passage=The mass of the rich and poor are differentiated by their incomes and nothing else, and the average millionaire is only the average dishwasher dressed in a new suit. , author=George Orwell, title=Down and Out in Paris and London, chapter=Ch. XXII, page=120, publisher=Harvest / Harcourt paperback edition}}
  • To perceive the difference between things; to discriminate.
  • * {{quote-book, title=, year=1964
  • , passage=he refused to instruct that actual intent to harm or recklessness had to be found before punitive damages could be awarded, or that a verdict for respondent should differentiate between compensatory and punitive damages.}}
  • (intransitive) To modify, or be modified.
  • (mathematics) To calculate the derivative of a function.
  • (mathematics) To calculate the differential of a function of multiple variables.
  • (biology) To produce distinct organs or to achieve specific functions by a process of development called differentiation.
  • * {{quote-book, title=, year=1930, author=Robert Evans Snodgrass
  • , passage=In Chapter IV we learned that every animal consists of a body, or soma, formed of cells that are differentiated from the germ cells usually at an early stage of development.}}

    Derived terms

    * differentiation