What is the difference between PCOS & just having cysts?

I had two pelvic exams in the past year & was told everything was fine.Then had ultrasound & found cysts on both ovaries & left one enlarged. It seems like for years I've had bad periods with excessive bleeding & pain in my ovaries. I attributed it as part of my cycle.  Looking back, I probably had them for years.  What is the difference b/w just having ovarian cysts to PCOS? or all the same? diagnosis?

[Iammegreen]

I have PCOS and I have had a dermoid cyst on my ovary.  These are two seperate things.  

My dermoid cyst was 100% unrelated to my PCOS.  The only symptom from the cyst was pain in my abdomen since it had grown so large.  The cyst was basically a collection of extra cells and had no effect on other parts of my body and was not caused by other things in my body.  

PCOS on the other hand affects many parts of your body and symptoms vary from person to person.  Multiple small ovarian cysts and enlarged ovaries is one symptom of PCOS, which I do not have.  PCOS also comes with many other symptoms due to multiple hormone imbalances, such as irregular or no periods, infertility, acne, hair growth, obesity, insulin resistance.