Where does “differentiator” come from?

Differentiator comes from English differentiate, from Latin differentiatus and differentiare, from Latin differentia meaning difference, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European bʰer- meaning to carry or bear.

differentiator (English): Anything that differentiates, or causes...

Definitions

  1. Anything that differentiates, or causes...

Ancestry of “differentiator”, step by step

differentiator traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English differentiate

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishdifferentiateTo show, or be the distinction between two...
2Frenchdifférencierto differentiate (all senses), distinguish
3Germandifferenzierento differentiate
4ItaliandifferenziareTo differentiate, to distinguish
5Russianдифференци́роватьto differentiate, to distinguish
6Spanishdiferenciarto differentiate
7Spanishdiferenciadifference
8Latindifferentiadifference; diversity; nominative neuter plural...
9Latindifferēnsspreading, scattering, dispersing, separating
10Latindifferrepresent active infinitive of differō
11LatindifferoI carry different ways, spread, scatter,...
12Latindis-asunder, apart, in two; reversal, removal;...
13Latincalceusshoe
14Latincalxlimestone; chalk; the finish line
15Ancient Greekχάλιξsmall stone, pebble; gravel, rubble

via English ‐or

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1English‐orCreates an agent noun, often from a verb, indicating a person or object (often machines or parts of them) that do the verb or part of speech with which they are formed
2Middle English-our
3Old French-eorAlternative form of -or
4Latin-ator-ator, -er; second-person singular future passive...
5Latin-tor-er
6Proto-Italic-tōrForms agent nouns to verb stems
7Proto-Indo-European-tōrDerives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone...
8Proto-Indo-European-tor-s
Every word from Ancient Greek χάλιξ