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Elaborate vs Differentiate - What's the difference?

elaborate | differentiate |

In lang=en terms the difference between elaborate and differentiate

is that elaborate is (used with'' on ''when used with an object ) to give further detail or explanation (about) while differentiate is to perceive the difference between things; to discriminate.

As verbs the difference between elaborate and differentiate

is that elaborate is (used with'' on ''when used with an object ) to give further detail or explanation (about) while differentiate is to show, or be the distinction between two things.

As an adjective elaborate

is highly complex, detailed, or sophisticated.

elaborate

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Highly complex, detailed, or sophisticated.
  • :
  • Intricate, fancy, flashy, or showy.
  • :
  • *
  • *:The house was a big elaborate limestone affair, evidently new. Winter sunshine sparkled on lace-hung casement, on glass marquise, and the burnished bronze foliations of grille and door.
  • Verb

    (elaborat)
  • (used with'' on ''when used with an object ) To give further detail or explanation (about).
  • What do you mean you didn't come home last night? Would you care to elaborate ?
    Could you elaborate on the plot for your novel for me?

    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