distinguish

Etymology

From Middle English distingwen, borrowed from Old French distinguer, from Latin distinguere (“to separate, divide, distinguish, set off, adorn, literally mark off”), from di-, dis- (“apart”) + stinguere. Compare extinguish.

Pronunciation

• enPR: dĭs-tĭngʹgwĭsh, IPA^(key): /dɪsˈtɪŋɡwɪʃ/

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• Rhymes: -ɪŋɡwɪʃ
• Hyphenation: dis‧tin‧guish

Verb

distinguish (third-person singular simple present distinguishes, present participle distinguishing, simple past and past participle distinguished)

1. To see someone or something as different from others.
   • 1922, De Lacy O'Leary, Arabic Thought and Its Place in History:

     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.

   • 2012 March-April, Jeremy Bernstein, “A Palette of Particles”, in American Scientist‎, volume 100, number 2, page 146:

     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.

2. To see someone or something clearly or distinctly.
3. To make oneself noticeably different or better from others through accomplishments.
   • 1784: William Jones, The Description and Use of a New Portable Orrery, &c., PREFACE

     THE favourable reception the Orrery has met with from Perſons of the firſt diſtinction, and from Gentlemen and Ladies in general, has induced me to add to it ſeveral new improvements in order to give it a degree of Perfection; and diſtinguiſh it from others; which by Piracy, or Imitation, may be introduced to the Public.

4. (transitive, obsolete) To make to differ.
   • Bible, 1 Cor. iv. 7 (Douay version)

     Who distinguisheth thee?

Further reading

• distinguish in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• distinguish in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911