distinct

English

Etymology

From Middle English distincte, past participle of distincten (“to distinguish, discern”), from Old French destincter, from Latin distinctus, past participle of distinguere (“to distinguish”); see distinguish.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American, Canada, Australia) IPA^(key): /dɪˈstɪŋkt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /dəˈstəŋkt/
• Rhymes: -ɪŋkt

Adjective

distinct (comparative distincter or more distinct, superlative distinctest or most distinct)

1. Capable of being perceived very clearly.

   Her voice was distinct despite the heavy traffic.

   • 2013 July-August, Fenella Saunders, “Tiny Lenses See the Big Picture”, in American Scientist:

     The single-imaging optic of the mammalian eye offers some distinct visual advantages. Such lenses can take in photons from a wide range of angles, increasing light sensitivity. They also have high spatial resolution, resolving incoming images in minute detail.

2. Different from one another (with the preferable adposition being "from").

   Horses are distinct from zebras.

   • 1928, Lawrence R. Bourne, chapter 13, in Well Tackled!‎^[1]:

     “Yes, there are two distinct sets of footprints, both wearing rubber shoes—one I think ordinary plimsolls, the other goloshes,” replied the sergeant.

3. Noticeably different from others; distinctive.

   Olga's voice is quite distinct because of her accent.

   • 2011 October 20, Associated Press, “Basque group ETA declares end to violent campaign”, in CBC News‎^[2], archived from the original on 16 July 2025:

     The Basque country is a small but wealthy and verdant region of northern Spain, with its own distinct culture and an ancient language that linguists cannot trace and sounds nothing like Spanish.

4. Separate in place; not conjunct or united; with from.
   • 1702–1704, Edward [Hyde, 1st] Earl of Clarendon, (please specify |book=I to XVI), in The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, Begun in the Year 1641. […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed at the [Sheldonian] Theater:

     The intention was that the two armies which marched out together should afterward be distinct.

5. (obsolete) Distinguished; having the difference marked; separated by a visible sign; marked out; specified.
   • 1667, John Milton, “Book VII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:

     Wherever thus created — for no place / Is yet distinct by name.

6. (obsolete) Marked; variegated.
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto III”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 23:

     The which [place] was dight / With divers flowres distinct with rare delight.

Synonyms

• (capable of being perceived very clearly): clear, vivid; see also Thesaurus:distinct
• (different from one another): different, separate, several (obsolete)
• (noticeably different): characteristic, distinctive, prominent
• (separate in place): discrete, individual, noncontinuous, separate
• (distinguished): specified
• (marked): patterned; see also Thesaurus:marked

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “capable of being perceived very clearly”): confusing, indistinct; see also Thesaurus:indistinct
• (antonym(s) of “different from one another”): same, indistinguishable

Derived terms

• contradistinct
• distinctify
• distinctly
• distinctness
• distinctor
• distinctual
• nondistinct
• ultradistinct
• undistinct

Related terms

• distinction
• distinctive
• distinguish
• distinguishable
• distinguished
• distinguishness
• extinct

Translations

very clear

• Basque: garbi
• Bulgarian: ясен (bg) (jasen), отчетлив (bg) (otčetliv)
• Catalan: distint
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 明顯 / 明显 (zh) (míngxiǎn), 清晰 (zh) (qīngxī)

• Czech: zřetelný (cs)

  Old Czech: zřětedlný

• Danish: tydelig, distinkt
• Finnish: selkeä (fi), erottuva (fi), kuuluva (fi)
• French: distinct (fr), intelligible (fr)
• Galician: distinto (gl)
• German: deutlich (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: σαφής (saphḗs), τρανής (tranḗs)

• Italian: chiaro (it)
• Japanese: 明白な (ja) (めいはくな, meihaku na)
• Latin: distīnctus, nobilis (la)
• Māori: mataaho
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: distinkt

  Nynorsk: distinkt

• Portuguese: distinto (pt)
• Romanian: distinct (ro)
• Russian: разбо́рчивый (ru) (razbórčivyj), отчётливый (ru) (otčótlivyj), я́сный (ru) (jásnyj), чёткий (ru) (čótkij)
• Spanish: distinto (es)
• Swedish: tydlig (sv)
• Ukrainian: чітки́й (čitkýj), я́сний (uk) (jásnyj), вира́зний (vyráznyj)

different from one another

• Bashkir: башҡа (başqa), төрлө (türlü)
• Basque: desberdin, bestelako
• Bulgarian: отделен (bg) (otdelen), различен (bg) (različen)
• Catalan: distint
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 不同的 (zh) (bùtóng de), 分明 (zh) (fēnmíng)

• Danish: forskellig (da), distinkt
• Estonian: erinev
• Finnish: erilainen (fi)
• French: distinct (fr)
• Hebrew: מֻבְחָן m (muvẖán), נִבְדָּל (he) m (nivdál)
• Hindi: भिन्न (hi) (bhinn)
• Irish: ar leith, leithleach
• Italian: distinto (it), diverso (it)
• Japanese: 異なる (ja) (ことなる, kotonaru)
• K'iche': jalajoj
• Latin: distīnctus
• Mirandese: çtinto
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: distinkt

  Nynorsk: distinkt

• Pashto: بېل (ps) (bel), جلا (ps) (jëlâ)
• Portuguese: distinto (pt)
• Romanian: distinct (ro)
• Russian: отде́льный (ru) (otdélʹnyj), разли́чный (ru) (razlíčnyj), отли́чный (ru) (otlíčnyj) (от (ot) - from)
• Spanish: distinto (es)
• Ukrainian: окре́мий (uk) (okrémyj), особли́вий (osoblývyj)

noticeably different

• Bashkir: башҡа (başqa)
• Bengali: বিশেষ (bn) (biśeś)
• Bulgarian: особен (bg) (osoben)
• Catalan: distint
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 截然不同的 (jiérán bùtóng de), 獨特 / 独特 (zh) (dútè)

• Danish: tydelig adskilt, distinkt
• Estonian: erisugune, eristatav
• Finnish: erottuva (fi)
• French: reconnaissable (fr)
• Hindi: विशेष (hi) (viśeṣ), विशिष्ट (hi) (viśiṣṭ)
• Indonesian: khas (id)
• Japanese: 無二の (ja) (むにの, muni no)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: distinkt

  Nynorsk: distinkt

• Portuguese: distinto (pt)
• Romanian: distinct (ro)
• Russian: осо́бый (ru) (osóbyj), осо́бенный (ru) (osóbennyj)
• Spanish: distinto (es)
• Swedish: distinkt (sv)
• Ukrainian: особли́вий (osoblývyj)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} distincte (ia)
• Telugu: ^{(please verify)} విలక్షణమైన (vilakṣaṇamaina)

Verb

distinct (third-person singular simple present distincts, present participle distincting, simple past and past participle distincted)

1. (obsolete, transitive) To distinguish; to make a distinction.
   • 1788, James McHenry, letter to George Washington, 27 July, in The Documentary History of the First Federal Elections 1788–1790, vol. 2, ed. Gordon DenBoer, University of Wisconsin Press, 1984, page 109:

     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.

Further reading

• “distinct”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “distinct”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “distinct”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.
• Douglas Harper (2001–2026), “distinct”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

French

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin distinctus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dis.tɛ̃/, /dis.tɛ̃kt/
• Homophones: distincts (general), distincte, distinctes (form 2)

Adjective

distinct (feminine distincte, masculine plural distincts, feminine plural distinctes)

1. distinct; discrete (separate, distinguished, different)

Related terms

• distinguer

Further reading

• “distinct”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French distinct, Latin distinctus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /disˈtinkt/

Adjective

distinct m or n (feminine singular distinctă, masculine plural distincți, feminine/neuter plural distincte)

1. distinct

Declension

Declension of distinct

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	distinct		distinctă	distincți	distincte
	definite	distinctul		distincta	distincții	distinctele
genitive- dative	indefinite	distinct		distincte	distincți	distincte
	definite	distinctului		distinctei	distincților	distinctelor

Related terms

• distinctiv
• distincție
• distinge

Further reading

• “distinct”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2026