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Which word shares the same Latin root meaning "to creak, rattle, or crack," with discrepancy?

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discrepancy

American  

[dih-skrep-uhn-see] / dɪˈskrɛp ən si /

Also discrepance

noun

• discrepancies
  plural

1. 

   the state or quality of being discrepant or in disagreement, as by displaying an unexpected or unacceptable difference; inconsistency.

   The discrepancy between the evidence and his account of what happened led to his arrest.

   Synonyms:

   variance, contrariety, discordance, disagreement, incongruity

2. an instance of difference or inconsistency.

   There are certain discrepancies between the two versions of the story.

   Synonyms:

   variation

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discrepancy British  

/ dɪˈskrɛpənsɪ /

noun

1. a conflict or variation, as between facts, figures, or claims

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Usage

Discrepancy is sometimes wrongly used where disparity is meant. A discrepancy exists between things which ought to be the same; it can be small but is usually significant. A disparity is a large difference between measurable things such as age, rank, or wages

Synonym Usage

See difference.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• discrepancies
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of discrepancy

First recorded in 1615–25; from Latin discrepantia, from discrepant- (stem of discrepāns “sounding discordant”; see discrepant) + -ia -y ³ ( def. )

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Explanation

A discrepancy is a lack of agreement or balance. If there is a discrepancy between the money you earned and the number on your paycheck, you should complain to your boss. There is a discrepancy when there is a difference between two things that should be alike. For example, there can be a wide discrepancy or a slight discrepancy between two objects, stories, or facts. The noun discrepancy is from Latin discrepare "to sound differently," from the prefix dis- "from" plus crepare "to rattle, creak."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

discrepancy discrepancies

Affidavit ballots are ones that were not immediately accepted because of a discrepancy such as lacking proper ID on election day.

From BBC ● Nov. 11, 2026

The researchers traced the discrepancy to a mistake in the city's geographic coordinates.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 26, 2026

You can easily run into walls, which may explain some of the discrepancy between the number of people who have an interest in Roth conversions and the number who actually do them.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 23, 2026

This same discrepancy has made the journalism thriller itself feel somewhat archaic.

From Salon ● Oct. 11, 2026

She and her division chief went back and forth over the data, trying to isolate the discrepancy.

From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly

In Delhi, an analysis by The Hindu newspaper found Muslims accounted for around 20 percent of voters identified with logical discrepancies - compared to 13.6 of the electorate, according to draft rolls.

From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026

The software used to review the electoral rolls flagged certain family details—such as a person who has five siblings or more—as discrepancies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

History also gives physicists a reason to pay attention to tiny discrepancies.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2026

Discussion of those and other discrepancies have been around for a long time.

From Salon ● Sep. 10, 2026

But Ptolemy and his followers had assumed that measurements could be regarded as approximations: in practice, there were bound to be minor discrepancies between theoretical predictions and actual measurements.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

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Related Words

• difference
• disparity
• distinction
• divergence
• error
• inconsistency
• miscalculation
• variation

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