Library / English Dictionary

DISTINGUISH

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Mark as different

Example:

We distinguish several kinds of maple

Synonyms:

differentiate; distinguish; secern; secernate; separate; severalise; severalize; tell; tell apart

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "distinguish" is one way to...):

identify; place (recognize as being; establish the identity of someone or something)

"Distinguish" entails doing...:

compare (examine and note the similarities or differences of)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "distinguish"):

stratify (divide society into social classes or castes)

discriminate; separate; single out (treat differently on the basis of sex or race)

demarcate (separate clearly, as if by boundaries)

decouple; dissociate (regard as unconnected)

contradistinguish (distinguish by contrasting qualities)

severalise; severalize (distinguish or separate)

have the distinction (be distinguished from others of a similar type by virtue of a notable characteristic)

contrast (put in opposition to show or emphasize differences)

individualise; individualize (make or mark or treat as individual)

sex (tell the sex (of young chickens))

label (distinguish (as a compound or molecule) by introducing a labeled atom)

label (distinguish (an element or atom) by using a radioactive isotope or an isotope of unusual mass for tracing through chemical reactions)

discriminate; know apart (recognize or perceive the difference)

know (be able to distinguish, recognize as being different)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s something from somebody

Derivation:

distinction (a discrimination between things as different and distinct on the basis of their characteristics or attributes)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Be a distinctive feature, attribute, or trait; sometimes in a very positive sense

Example:

His modesty distinguishes him from his peers

Synonyms:

differentiate; distinguish; mark

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "distinguish" is one way to...):

characterise; characterize; qualify (describe or portray the character or the qualities or peculiarities of)

Verb group:

mark (designate as if by a mark)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "distinguish"):

characterise; characterize (be characteristic of)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Sense 3

Meaning:

Identify as in botany or biology, for example

Synonyms:

describe; discover; distinguish; identify; key; key out; name

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

"Distinguish" entails doing...:

assort; class; classify; separate; sort; sort out (arrange or order by classes or categories)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Sense 4

Meaning:

Make conspicuous or noteworthy

Synonyms:

distinguish; signalise; signalize

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "distinguish" is one way to...):

mark (designate as if by a mark)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "distinguish"):

singularise; singularize (distinguish as singular)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 5

Meaning:

Detect with the senses

Example:

I can't make out the faces in this photograph

Synonyms:

discern; distinguish; make out; pick out; recognise; recognize; spot; tell apart

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

"Distinguish" entails doing...:

comprehend; perceive (to become aware of through the senses)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "distinguish"):

resolve (make clearly visible)

discriminate (distinguish)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Credits

 Context examples: 

The planets Uranus and Neptune are sometimes referred to as "ice giants" to distinguish them from their larger siblings, Jupiter and Saturn, the classic "gas giants."

(Cassini spies the ice-giant planet Uranus, NASA)

A pleomorphic cell of the pulmonary alveolar epithelium that secretes surfactant and is distinguished by abundant cytoplasm containing numerous lipid-rich multilamellar bodies.

(Alveolar Cell Type II, NCI Thesaurus)

They were some miles out when we first saw them, but they shot forward with great swiftness, and were soon so near that the rowers could distinguish our persons.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

By what instinct do you pretend to distinguish between a fallen seraph of the abyss and a messenger from the eternal throne—between a guide and a seducer?

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Terminology for the test codes concerned with the distinguishing qualities or prominent aspect of a person, object, action, process, or substance.

(CDISC SEND Subject Characteristic Test Code Terminology, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

Terminology for the test names concerned with the distinguishing qualities or prominent aspect of a person, object, action, process, or substance.

(CDISC SEND Subject Characteristic Test Name Terminology, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

A rare, very well differentiated cervical mucinous adenocarcinoma in which most of the neoplastic glands cannot be distinguished from the normal endocervical glands.

(Cervical Mucinous Adenocarcinoma, Minimal Deviation Variant, NCI Thesaurus)

There, he had learnt to distinguish between the steadiness of principle and the obstinacy of self-will, between the darings of heedlessness and the resolution of a collected mind.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

Indicates that a text matching operation distinguishes upper-case (capital) letters from lower case.

(Case Sensitive, NCI Thesaurus)

It contains two groups LCM-LASSA COMPLEX VIRUSES and TACARIBE COMPLEX VIRUSES, which are distinguished by antigenic relationships and geographic distribution.

(Arenavirus, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)