distinct

Pronunciation

• IPA: /dɪˈstɪŋkt/^[1]

Etymology

It is from the past participle of the obsolete verb distincten, “to distinguish” (about 1303),^[2][3] borrowed from Old French distincter,^[2][3] and directly borrowed from Latin distīnctus, the past participle of distinguere (“to separate, mark off”) (see distinguish).^[2][4][3][5] The adjective may also have been borrowed from Old French distinct.^[2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Distinguished as not the same, separate: 1382 in the OED,^[7] about 1390 in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales in Barnhart,^[2] the late 14th century in Etymonline, which also has clearly perceptible by the senses.^[3]

Semantic evolution

As a past participle it meant distinguished or differentiated and divided into parts, senses now obsolete.^[7] Possessing distinctive qualities, different in kind, is from 1523,^[7] separate so as to be distinguished from before 1674,^[7] and in natural history, of markings, discrete, from 1789.^[7] Plain and intelligible to the mind is from about 1600.^[3] Clearly defined or unmistakable, as in a distinct possibility, is a later use.^[8][9] Distinction is older, probably before 1200.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1303 – distincten, to distinguish.^[2]
• 1382 – separate, not the same.^[7]
• 1523 – different in nature.^[7]
• c. 1600 – plain to the mind.^[3]
• 1789 – discrete, of markings.^[7]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Recognizably different from others; separate, discrete.
2. Easily perceived; clear: a distinct smell of gas.
3. Clearly defined; definite: a distinct possibility.
4. Notable or decided.

Word family

• distinctly
• distinctness

Related words

• distinction
• distinctive
• distinguish
• distinguished
• extinct
• instinct

Usage notes

The AHD distinguishes distinct, sharply distinguished from other things, from distinctive, enabling one thing to be distinguished from another: a distinct species is a clearly defined type, a distinctive song is one that identifies its bird.^[8] It also compares distinct with discrete, separate, several and apparent, which share the meaning “distinguished from others in nature or qualities”.^[8]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g 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. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins