nonidentity

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English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From non- +‎ identity.

Noun

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nonidentity (plural nonidentities)

  1. Difference, distinction; failure to be identical.
    • 1993, Ordway Hilton, Scientific Examination of Questioned Documents[1], →ISBN, page 395:
      No scientific examiner would select only chance variations to establish nonidentity of two specimens when the fundamental points of identification stamp them as originating at a single source.
  2. (mathematics) An operator which modifies its operand, and which therefore is not the identity.
    • 1995, Thomas A. Whitelaw, Introduction to Abstract Algebra[2], →ISBN, page 99:
      Moreover, in a group of prime order p, every non-identity element (i.e. every element other than 1) has period p.

Derived terms

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