distinct
Formsdistincts, distincting, distincted
- 1Different from one another, typically paired with the preposition "from."
Like two roads that branch off and never meet again.
The committee found the two proposals distinct from each other in scope and budget.
In biology, a subspecies remains distinct from its parent population until interbreeding resumes.
Similardifferent, separate, distinguishable, dissimilar
Oppositesimilar, identical, indistinguishable
Note
The construction matters here. The adjective takes from, as in horses are distinct from zebras, and careful writers keep it there rather than reaching for to or than. With a plural noun the preposition can drop away entirely, as in two distinct sets of footprints. With nothing in view to compare against, the word slides toward the "distinctive" meaning, where something stands out rather than merely differs.
- 2Noticeably different from others; distinctive.
Like a single red flower in a field of green.
Her paintings have a distinct style that critics recognize instantly.
The town has a distinct character shaped by its fishing history.
Similardistinctive, characteristic, individual, unique
Oppositenondescript
- 3Able to be perceived very clearly.
Like a bell that rings clearly across a quiet valley.
Through the clearing fog, the lighthouse became distinct against the sky.
The recording captured a distinct hum beneath the music.
Similarclear, noticeable, definite, unmistakable, plain
Oppositeindistinct, faint, vague, unclear
Note
Behind the clarity lies a Latin participle: distinctus, "distinguished," from distinguere, which reached English through Old French and Middle English distincte. A distinct voice or outline is one that has been told apart from its background. The ear picks the voice out of the traffic, and the eye picks the lighthouse out of the fog. That act of separating is what the word still records.
- 4Separate in place; not joined or united with another, used with "from."
Like rooms divided by solid walls, each closed off from the next.
The estate is divided into three distinct parcels, each with its own gate.
In the museum, the two collections are kept distinct from one another.
Similarseparate, discrete, detached
Oppositeconnected
Less common meanings
- 5Distinguished and marked out by a visible sign; specified.
Wherever thus created — for no place / Is yet distinct by name.
1667, John Milton, Paradise LostNote
Milton's Paradise Lost (1667) shows the old use: no place "is yet distinct by name," meaning not yet marked out or specified by one. The sense stays close to the Latin participle behind the word, distinguished in the literal sense of set apart by a sign. Modern readers meet it only in older verse. In new writing, marked or specified does the job without confusion.
- 6Marked or variegated in coloring.
Like an autumn hillside splashed with reds, golds, and greens.
The meadow lay distinct with wildflowers of every hue after the rains.
The which [place] was dight / With divers flowres distinct with rare delight.
1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie QueeneNote
An adjective that still behaves like the Latin participle behind it, distinctus, from distinguere, "to distinguish": it takes with to name what does the marking. Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene (1596) describes a place "dight / With divers flowres distinct with rare delight." The usage is obsolete. Today dotted with, spangled with or variegated would do the work. It sits close to the "marked out" meaning.
- 7To distinguish; to make a distinction between things.
Like a jeweler separating real gems from glass by eye.
A wise judge must distinct the guilty from the merely accused.
Here every means is made use of to do away all distincting between federal and antifederal and I suspect with no very friendly design to the federal cause.
1788, James McHenry, letter to George WashingtonNote
A verb built on the same Latin participle traced at the 'clearly perceived' sense, and conjugated regularly: distincts, distincting, distincted. James McHenry, writing to George Washington in 1788, complains of efforts to "do away all distincting between federal and antifederal." Distinguish now does this work, so the verb is something to recognize when quoting older texts, not something to use.
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Origin
This word comes from Middle English distincte, borrowed through Old French from Latin distinctus, the past participle of distinguere ("to distinguish").