distinguir

Forms

distinguir (first-person singular present distingo, first-person singular preterite distingui, past participle distinguido, short past participle distinto)^[1] Houaiss records distinguir and destinguir in the 15th century.^[2] A letter of 1750 still writes destinguem.^[3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin distinguō (“to separate, divide; to distinguish”).^[2][1] Nascentes calls it semi-learned.^[4]

The Latin verb is formed from dis- (“apart”) and the verb stinguō.^[1][5] De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of the simple verb, which means “to extinguish”, from Proto-Italic *stengʷō, from Proto-Indo-European *stengʷ- (“to push, thrust”), and sees no reason to posit an independent simple verb for the sense “to mark off”.^[6] The OLD and the DHLF mention the older view that connects it with a root “to prick”, as in Greek στίζω (stízō, “to prick, mark”).^[5][7] The Latin word was also borrowed as Spanish distinguir, French distinguer and Italian distinguere.^[8][7][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss dates the forms distinguir and destinguir to the 15th century, and his first dated record of the sense “to perceive the difference between” is of 1572.^[2] Barbosa (1611) glosses it with Portuguese apartar “to separate” and Latin distinguo.^[9]

Semantic evolution

Bluteau (1712–1728) gives the two main senses of the verb: to see with the eyes or know with the judgement the difference between things, and to hold someone in greater esteem, to single someone out;^[10] distinguir-se is to stand out.^[10] Morais (1789) adds the term of logic, to distinguish the senses of a proposition, and Camões's line in which the sun “marks” the hours of the day.^[11][12] Vieira gives the same logical sense.^[13] The senses of perceiving by sight or hearing and of honouring someone with a decoration are recorded in the modern dictionaries.^[14][15]

Timeline

• 15th century – the forms distinguir and destinguir.^[2]
• 1572 – Houaiss's first dated record of the main sense.^[2]
• 1611 – Barbosa glosses it as apartar.^[9]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau records the senses “to discern” and “to single out”, and the reflexive distinguir-se.^[10]
• 1750 – a private letter writes destinguem.^[3]
• 1789 – Morais records the logical sense.^[11]

Meanings

Verb

1. To perceive or mark the difference between; to tell apart: Ela não distingue o verde do azul.^[2][14]
2. To make out by sight, often at a distance; to discern: Ao longe distinguia-se uma vela.^[2][14]
3. To perceive by hearing or another sense.^[14][12]
4. To be the distinctive mark of; to characterize.^[2][14]
5. To single out for esteem; to honour, for instance with a decoration (condecoração).^[15][16]
6. (reflexive) To stand out, to become distinguished; to differ from others.^[2][17]

Related words

• distinção
• distintivo
• distinto
• extinguir
• Latin distinguō
• Spanish distinguir

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. distinguir
3. ^ a b CLUL (ed.) (2014), P.S. Post Scriptum: Arquivo Digital de Escrita Quotidiana em Portugal e Espanha na Época Moderna, Lisboa: Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, http://ps.clul.ul.pt, p. s.v. distinguir
4. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. distinguir
5. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. distinguir
9. ^ a b Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. distinguir
10. ^ a b c Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. distinguir
11. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1789), Diccionario da lingua portugueza composto pelo padre D. Rafael Bluteau, reformado, e accrescentado, 2 vols., Lisboa: Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, p. 1, 446
12. ^ a b Aulete, Francisco Júlio Caldas, Dicionário contemporâneo da língua portuguesa (1st ed. 1881), online as Aulete Digital, Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, https://aulete.com.br, p. s.v. distinguir
13. ^ Vieira, Frei Domingos (1871–1874), Grande Diccionario Portuguez ou Thesouro da lingua portugueza, 5 vols., Porto: Ernesto Chardron e Bartholomeu H. de Moraes, p. 2, 1066
14. ^ a b c d e Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. distinguir
15. ^ a b Michaelis: Moderno Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, São Paulo: Melhoramentos (online as Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa, https://michaelis.uol.com.br), p. s.v. distinguir
16. ^ Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, revised online edition (2023–) of the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa Contemporânea (2001), https://dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt, p. s.v. distinguir
17. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. distinguir