vb, -at*ed  -at*ing vt  1  :  to constitute a difference that distinguishes <a highly developed brain with a capacity for articulate speech s humans from the other primates>   2  :  to cause differentiation of in the course of development  3  :  to discriminate or give expression to a specific difference that distinguishes <quickly learned to sharp pain from dull pain>  < humans from the rest of the primates>   4  :  to cause differentiation in (a specimen for microscopic examination) by staining vi  1  :  to recognize or express a difference < between humans and the rest of the primates>   2  :  to undergo differentiation .
 
 
 
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