Difference

as 'condition of bearing apart'

Morphological analysis

• Etymon: Difference from Latin differō: 'bear apart'
• Morpheme breakdown: difference (dif.fer.ence) dif: 'apart' + fer: 'bear' + suffix --ence: 'condition of' → 'condition of bearing apart'

Essential definition

The condition or state characterized by the action of bearing or carrying apart.

Semantic context

• Conventional sense: The state or relation of dissimilarity (Note: Semantic drift from essential meaning)
• Essential meaning (my usage): condition of bearing apart

Philosophical significance

Defining difference as the 'condition of bearing apart' establishes relationality as the fundamental ground of being. It posits that existence itself is not a state of isolated substances, but a dynamic, generative process born from the tension between separation and connection. This moves philosophy from a static ontology of 'things' to a process ontology of 'becoming' through relational conferencing.

Usage in this lexicon

When I use the word difference in my work, I mean exactly 'condition of bearing apart'. This definition:

• establishes a foundational dialectic by creating the necessary ontological counterpart to 'bearing together' which sets up a dynamic tension essential for any relational model of existence;
• prevents conceptual collapse by safeguarding the integrity of individual entities through providing a principle of distinction without which the concept of relation would have no discrete terms to connect;
• grounds possibility and potential by representing the field of pure potential and multiplicity and alternative states that must exist prior to any specific instance of actualization or 'bearing together';
• provides a generative source by framing difference not as a negative lack but as an active and productive condition that is the source of variety and change and emergence;
• universalizes the relational framework by explicitly naming this polar condition so the overarching principle becomes a universally applicable lens for analyzing disparate systems;
• clarifies process ontology by presenting being as an active process or transformation from a state of bearing apart to a state of bearing together which emphasizes becoming;
• facilitates hierarchical integration by allowing for the coherent nesting of relationships where a stabilized 'bearing together' at one level can become a new unit of 'bearing apart' at a higher level;
• unifies diverse phenomena by offering a single ontological lens to analyze systems—from cosmology to consciousness—through identifying the same dynamic of separation-and-relation at work.

Related terms

• Conference

Sources

• Wiktionary

*This definition follows morphological essentialism principles. See the Methodology for details.