different

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1. Fowler wrote in 1926 that insistence 'that different can only be followed by from and not by to is a superstition'. It is in fact a 20th century superstition that refuses to go away, despite copious evidence for the use of to and than dating back to well before 1700. First of all we should recognize that for much of the time different, when used predicatively (after a verb) is used without any complement at all:

But tonight would have been different—A. Wells, 1993.

We may then put than aside for a moment and concentrate on different from and different to. The argument in favour of from is based on the relation of different to differ (which is followed by from in this meaning); but this is an artificial construction based on the principles of Latin and not English grammar, and is contradicted by the varying practice of accord (with) and according (to). English works by analogy, and here the influence comes from words that have the same function, such as comparable, equivalent, and similar.

2. There are indeed occasions when from is inelegant and to is more natural, especially when different is separated from its complement (e.g. by an adverbial phrase), as will be seen from following examples which illustrate both uses: (from)

Casual shacking up was quite different from holy matrimony—M. Underwood, 1980

The Anglo-American approach to copyright was thought to be different from the approach taken by France and other European countries—New Yorker, 1987

He's no different from my brother, in the end—Nadine Gordimer, 1988

What makes chenille different from other carpets is that it's the product of two distinct processes—E. Blair, 1990

(to) He looked no different at first to other boys Margaret had known—M. Leland, 1986

I found that a meadow seen against the light was an entirely different tone of green to the same meadow facing the light—Scots Magazine, 1986

They don't seem to be any different to us—Chicago Tribune, 1989

Sound waves are very different to water waves but the length of a sound wave changes with its frequency in the same way—J. Downer, 1989.

4. Different than is a more complex issue. It is better established in American English than in British English, especially when different is followed by a clause:

It used to be they'd play at different times than on the U.S. stations, but not any more—Globe & Mail (Toronto), 1977

This discrepancy is intriguing because most scallops have a very different mode of life than other species—Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, 1987

It was in so many ways entirely different than he could ever have imagined-Internet website, American English 2004 [Old English (up to 1150)C].

British English looks more strongly askance at this construction than it does on different to, and the objection can be better justified on grounds of style than the objection to to can be justified on grounds of grammar. It is natural to want to avoid an awkward relative construction such as we find in Joyce Cary's much discussed sentence I was a very different man in 1935 from what I was in 1916; for some the answer is I was a very different man in 1935 than I was in 1916, but a little lateral thinking might steer us right round the problem by suggesting an alternative: I was not the same man in 1935 as I had been in 1916. One should not presume to rewrite Joyce Cary, but this kind of solution might do better for those who simply want to stay clear of linguistic mantraps.

4. The case for to and than is more compelling, as occasional alternatives to from, when different is used in an adverbial phrase such as in a different sense, and when they follow the adverb differently, where from can become uncomfortably cumbersome:

Sebastian was a drunkard in quite a different sense to myself—Evelyn Waugh, 1945

A false sense of security which makes drivers behave quite differently on motorways than on ordinary roads—Daily Telegraph, 1971

The lepidopteran proboscis is very differently constructed from that of the Diptera—Proctor & Yeo, 1973

Perhaps our minds work differently to the physical world around us-G. Hartnell, 2004.

5. Note that different is commonly found in everyday use as a convenient synonym for more austere words such as distinct, separate, various, etc.:

Children's perceptions of their sexual roles are built up from many different sources—N. Tucker, 1981

After four or five different activities have been described, you read the list of activities—R. McCall, 1992

For sociology graduates there are career opportunities in many different areas—Edinburgh undergraduate prospectus, 1993.

If the exact meanings of the other words given above are needed, use them; otherwise this use of different is a useful one.

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adjective

1. Not like another in nature, quality, amount, or form: disparate, dissimilar, divergent, diverse, unlike, variant, various. See same/different/compare.
2. Not the same as what was previously known or done: fresh, innovative, inventive, new, newfangled, novel, original, unfamiliar, unprecedented. See new/old.

Idioms beginning with different:
different as night and day

See also horse of a different color; kettle of fish, different; march to a different drummer; sing a different tune; wear another (different) hat.

adj

Definition: dissimilar, unlike
Antonyms: alike, correspondent, homogeneous, like, resembling, same, similar

adj

Definition: miscellaneous, various
Antonyms: normal, same, similar, standard, uniform

adj

Definition: separate, distinct
Antonyms: conventional, correspondent, harmonious, normal, same, standard, unified, united

IN BRIEF: adj. - marked by dissimilarity; Unlike in nature or quality or form or degree. adj. - Distinctly separate from the first; Distinct or separate.

We become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams. — Jimmy Carter, Source: Thinkexist.com

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For a list of words related to different, see:

• Comparisons
• Special, Bright, Skillful, or Unusual

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See words rhyming with "different."

Common misspelling(s) of different

• diffrent
• diferent
• diferrent

Dansk (Danish)
adj. - forskellig, anderledes, speciel, usædvanlig, ny

Nederlands (Dutch)
verschillend, anders, apart/gescheiden

Français (French)
adj. - différent de, totalement différent de, tout autre (que), divers, plusieurs

Deutsch (German)
adj. - unterschiedlich, verschieden, anders

Ελληνική (Greek)
adj. - διαφορετικός, αλλιώτικος, διάφορος, ποικίλος, άλλος

Italiano (Italian)
differente, diverso

idioms:

• be different from/to    essere differente da, essere diverso da

Português (Portuguese)
adj. - diferente

idioms:

• be different to    ser diferente de

Русский (Russian)
разный, непохожий

idioms:

• be different to    отличаться от

Español (Spanish)
adj. - diferente, distinto, no igual

Svenska (Swedish)
adj. - olik, annorlunda, ovanlig

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
不同的

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 不同的

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - ~와 같지 않은, 특색 있는, 다양한

日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - 違う, 同じでない, 種々の, 一風変わった
adv. - 異なって

idioms:

• a different kettle of fish    別問題
• a different story    別な話
• be different to    異なる

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(صفه) مختلف, متميز, غير اعتيادي‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮שונה, מיוחד‬

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Some good "different" pages on the web: