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distinguishable

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Etymology and origin of the English word distinguishable

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1597 R. Hooker, Of Lawes of Ecclesiasticall Politie More words from the 16th century
Ultimate origin
Latin distinguō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
English distinguish
English distinguishable
From the same root
English indistinguishable ← distinguish

Pronunciation

  • UK: /dɪˈstɪŋɡwɪʃəb(ə)l/, /dəˈstɪŋɡwɪʃəb(ə)l/[1]
  • US: /dɪˈstɪŋɡwɪʃəb(ə)l/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English distinguish + -able.[2][3][4][5] The OED, in its entry revised in 2025, compares Medieval Latin distinguibilis, used from the 11th century and in British sources from the 13th, and French distinguable, from the 17th century.[2] The verb is from distinguer or directly from Latin distinguō (“to separate, mark off”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Able to be distinguished, told apart or recognized as different: 1597, in R. Hooker's Of Lawes of Ecclesiasticall Politie.[2] Etymonline dates the word to the 1590s.[3]

Semantic evolution

From 1607 it was also used of what can be divided into different kinds,[2] and after 1611 of what can be perceived at all, often only with difficulty;[2][3] by 1644 it could also mean serving to distinguish, distinctive.[2] Johnson (1755) gave two senses, capable of being distinguished, and worthy of note or regard.[5] The second, "worthy of distinction, eminent", is recorded from 1693 and is now obsolete, its last OED record being from 1920.[2][4]

Timeline

  • 1597 – able to be told apart or recognized as different.[2] Etymonline dates the word to the 1590s.[3]
  • 1607 – divisible into different kinds.[2]
  • 1611 – able to be perceived; discernible.[2][3]
  • 1644 – serving to distinguish; distinctive.[2]
  • 1693 – worthy of distinction, eminent (obsolete by 1920).[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Able to be recognized as different from something else: The two coins are hardly distinguishable from each other.[6][2][4]
  2. Able to be perceived; discernible: a faint but distinguishable smell of smoke.[6][2][4]
  3. Able to be divided into different kinds or parts.[6][2][4]
  4. (obsolete, 1693–1920) Worthy of distinction; eminent.[2][4][5]

Word family

  • nondistinguishable
  • undistinguishable
  • distinguishably
  • distinguishability

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  6. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
Cite this entry

“Distinguishable.” Etymologically, 13 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/distinguishable. Accessed 13 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·