nonidentity
nounEtymology From non- + identity.
1
Difference, distinction; failure to be identical.
- 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.1993, Ordway Hilton, Scientific Examination of Questioned Documents, →ISBN, page 395:
2
Mathematics, Sciences An operator which modifies its operand, and which therefore is not the identity.
- Moreover, in a group of prime order p, every non-identity element (i.e. every element other than 1) has period p.1995, Thomas A. Whitelaw, Introduction to Abstract Algebra, →ISBN, page 99:
- Derived terms
- nonidentity problem