Etymologically
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distant

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 12:47. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈdɪstənt/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old French distant or directly borrowed from Latin distans (“standing apart”), the present participle of distāre (“to stand apart, be remote”),[2][3][4] from dis- (“apart”) and stāre (“to stand”),[2][3] from PIE Proto-Indo-European *sta- (“to stand”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Separate or apart in space by a given interval: about 1391, in Chaucer's Treatise on the Astrolabe.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Far apart, remote, is from the 15th–16th century (1548 in the OED).[6][5] Remote in time, and of relationships, not close (a distant cousin), followed.[7][3] Reserved or cool in manner is from 1712.[3] The railway distant signal is from 1820,[5] and of the eyes, looking far away, from 1873.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 1391 – apart by an interval.[2][5]
  • 1548 – far off.[5]
  • 1712 – reserved in manner.[3]
  • 1820 – distant signal.[5]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Far away in space or time; remote.
  2. At a given distance: two miles distant.
  3. Not closely related: a distant cousin.
  4. Cool or reserved in manner; aloof.
  5. Seeming far away in thought: a distant look.

Word family

  • distantly
  • distantness
  • overdistant
  • ultradistant
  • undistant
  • equidistant

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin