DISTINCTION • FREE-TRANSLATOR.COM • Definition of Distinction

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/dɪstˈɪŋkʃən/ Listen

noun

Distinction n.

1.

A marking off by visible signs; separation into parts; division. (Obs.) "The distinction of tragedy into acts was not known."

2.

The act of distinguishing or denoting the differences between objects, or the qualities by which one is known from others; exercise of discernment; discrimination. "To take away therefore that error, which confusion breedeth, distinction is requisite."

3.

That which distinguishes one thing from another; distinguishing quality; sharply defined difference; as, the distinction between real and apparent good. "The distinction betwixt the animal kingdom and the inferior parts of matter."

4.

Estimation of difference; regard to differences or distinguishing circumstance. "Maids, women, wives, without distinction, fall."

5.

Conspicuous station; eminence; superiority; honorable estimation; as, a man of distinction. "Your country's own means of distinction and defense."

Synonyms: Difference; variation, variety; contrast; diversity; contrariety; disagreement; discrimination; preference; superiority; rank; note; eminence.

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Etymology of 'Distinction'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Distinction" Quotes from Famous Books

... purpose twenty-four hundred men were sent to the Castle, which lay close under the Heights to the east, with but a narrow channel between. The command of these men was given to Lord Percy, who hoped now for the distinction which illness had prevented his achieving at Bunker Hill. The attack was to be made at night. Within the lines at Boston Neck was to be gathered another force of troops, which was to second the attack from that direction. This last, in the face of the strong batteries at Roxbury, was a forlorn ...

— The Siege of Boston • Allen French

... 134. Upon the etymology of Turanians see MAX MUeLLER'S Science of Language, 2nd edition, p. 300, et seq. Upon the constituent characteristics of the Turanian group of races and languages other pages of the same work may be consulted.... The distinction between Turan and Iran is to be found in the literature of ancient Persia, but its importance became greater in the Middle Ages, as may be seen by reference to the great epic of Firdusi, the Shah-Nameh. ...

— A History of Art in Chaldaea & Assyria, v. 1 • Georges Perrot

... especially observed that these youths come back wearing the American costume, and they continue to do so, rather priding themselves upon it as a mark of self-respect and distinction. A very earnest desire to acquire the English language is evinced by the middling classes especially in the sea-ports. Yet it is an open question with not a few intelligent people of Yokohama, where we heard the subject freely discussed, whether foreign commerce ...

— Due West - or Round the World in Ten Months • Maturin Murray Ballou

... many men in other professions throughout the country became amateur architects of no mean ability as a pastime. In and about Philadelphia their Georgian adaptations, often tempered to a degree by the Quaker preference for the simple and practical, contributed much to the charm and distinction of local architecture. To such amateur architects we owe Independence Hall, designed by Andrew Hamilton, speaker of the Pennsylvania Assembly, and Christ Church, designed mainly ...

— The Colonial Architecture of Philadelphia • Frank Cousins

... Halleck was James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851), the first American novelist of distinction, and, if a popularity which has endured for nearly three quarters of a century is any test, still the most successful of all American novelists. Cooper was far more intensely American than Irving, and his books ...

— Brief History of English and American Literature • Henry A. Beers

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