disparity
(dɪˈspærɪtɪ)
[ad. F. disparité (16th c. in Littré) = It. disparità, Sp. disparidad, after L. type *disparitās, f. dis- 4 + paritās parity.]
1. The quality or state of being of unequal rank, condition, circumstances, etc.; inequality or dissimilarity in respect of age, amount, number, or quality; want of parity or equality.
| 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. xlvii. §3 Between Elihu and the rest of Job's familiars, the greatest disparity was but in years. 1610 C. Hampton Serm. 23, I am bound to obey both powers, but with disparitie. 1651 G. W. tr. Cowel's Inst. 21 A wife..fit for him without disparity or Disparagement. 1697 Collier Ess. Mor. Subj. ii. (1703) 59 Disparity in age seems a greater obstacle to an intimate friendship than inequality of fortune. 1773 Goldsm. Stoops to Conq. v, The disparity of education and fortune. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth xxxiv, Willing and desirous of fighting upon the spot, without regard to the disparity of numbers. 1856 Froude Hist. Eng. (1858) I. i. 20 No disparity of force made Englishmen shrink from enemies. |
b. with pl. An instance of this.
| 1682 Sir T. Browne Chr. Mor. i. §27 There may be no such vast Chasm or Gulph between disparities as common Measures determine. 1877 H. A. Page De Quincey II. xix. 163 This keen sense of the ludicrous and the salient disparities of life. |
2. The quality of being unlike or different; unlikeness, dissimilarity, difference, incongruity. Also with pl. An instance or particular form of this.
| c 1555 Harpsfield Divorce Hen. VIII (1878) 75 There is a great disparity and odds between them. 1580 North Plutarch (1676) 993 Who could more eloquently..note the disparities and differences [of men than Plutarch]? 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. vi. i. 276 In which computes there are manifest disparities. 1674 tr. Scheffer's Lapland xv. 77 You may see what a disparity there is between these dialects. 1775 Adair Amer. Ind. 214 There is not the least disparity between the ancient North-American method of manufacturing, and that of the South Americans. 1875 Lyell's Princ. Geol. II. iii. xxxiv. 250 We find a striking disparity between individuals..descended from a common stock. |