differential

[dɪfəˈɹənʃəɫ] adjective, noun

Forms differentials

1. adjective Of or pertaining to a difference. “differential characteristics”
2. adjective Dependent on, or making a difference; distinctive.
3. adjective Having differences in speed or direction of motion.
4. adjective (mathematics) Of or pertaining to differentiation or the differential calculus.
5. noun The differential gear in an automobile, etc.
6. noun A qualitative or quantitative difference between similar or comparable things.
7. noun One of two coils of conducting wire so related to one another or to a magnet or armature common to both, that one coil produces polar action contrary to that of the other.
8. noun A form of conductor used for dividing and distributing the current to a series of electric lamps so as to maintain equal action in all.
9. noun (calculus) A quantity representing an infinitesimal change in a variable, now only used as a heuristic aid except in nonstandard analysis but considered rigorous until the 20th century; a fluxion in Newtonian calculus, now usually written in Leibniz's notation as operatorname d!x.
10. noun (calculus, of a univariate differentiable function f(x)) A function giving the change in the linear approximation of f at a point x over a small interval Δx or operatorname d!x, the function being called the differential of f and denoted operatorname d!f(x,Δx), operatorname d!f(x), or simply operatorname d!f. “If f(x)#61;x², the differential of f is the function #92;operatorname#123;d#125;#92;#33;f(x,#92;Deltax)#61;f'(x)#92;Deltax#61;2x#92;Deltax.”
11. noun Any of several generalizations of this concept to functions of several variables or to higher orders: the partial differential, total differential, Gateaux differential, etc.
12. noun (multivariable calculus) The Jacobian matrix of a function of several variables.

Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “differential”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details