distinguish
verbEtymology
From Middle English distingwen, from Old French distinguer, from Latin distinguere (“to separate, divide, distinguish, set off, adorn, literally mark off”), from di-, dis- (“apart”) + stinguere, related to English stink. Compare extinguish.
- derived from distinguo
- derived from distinguer
- inherited from distingwen
Definitions
To recognize someone or something as different from others based on its characteristics.
- It had begun to take a leading place even in the days of the Ptolemies, and in scientific, as distinguished from purely literary work, it had assumed a position of primary importance early in the Christian era.
- The physics of elementary particles in the 20th century was distinguished by the observation of particles whose existence had been predicted by theorists sometimes decades earlier.
To see someone or something clearly or distinctly.
To make noticeably different or better from others through accomplishments.
- The soldier distinguished himself in combat and received a medal.
›+ 2 more definitionsshow fewer
To confer an honor upon.
- The soldier was distinguished with a medal for his bravery.
To make to differ.
- For who diſtinguiſheth thee?
The neighborhood
- neighborcontradistinguish
- neighbordistinct
- neighbordistinction
- neighbordistinctive
- neighborextinguish
Vish — recursive loop
A definitional loop anchored at distinguish. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.
A definitional loop anchored at distinguish. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.
9 hops · closes at distinguish
curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA