distant English · revision 6916

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1391|origins=la disto}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈdɪstənt/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fro|distant]] or directly [[bor|la|distans|t=standing apart]], the present participle of [[m|la|disto|alt=distāre|t=to stand apart, be remote]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from [[m|la|dis-|t=apart]] and [[m|la|sto|alt=stāre|t=to stand]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) from PIE [[ine-pro|*steh₂-|alt=*sta-|t=to stand]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Separate or apart in space by a given interval: about 1391, in Chaucer's ''Treatise on the Astrolabe''.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Far apart, remote, is from the 15th–16th century (1548 in the OED).^(Hoad 1986)^(OED 1989) Remote in time, and of relationships, not close (''a distant cousin''), followed.^(AHD)^(Etymonline) Reserved or cool in manner is from 1712.^(Etymonline) The railway ''distant signal'' is from 1820,^(OED 1989) and of the eyes, looking far away, from 1873.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1391 – apart by an interval.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1548 – far off.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1712 – reserved in manner.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1820 – distant signal.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Far away in space or [[time]]; [[remote]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # At a given distance: ''two miles distant''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Not closely related: ''a distant cousin''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Cool or reserved in manner; aloof.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Seeming far away in thought: ''a distant look''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[distantly]]

+ * [[distantness]]

+ * [[overdistant]]

+ * [[ultradistant]]

+ * [[undistant]]

+ * [[equidistant]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[distal]]

+ * [[distance]]

+ * [[stand]]

+ * [[instant]]

+ * [[constant]]

+ * [[stance]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}