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Distinguish   /dɪstˈɪŋgwɪʃ/   Listen
verb
Distinguish  v. t.  (past & past part. distinguished; pres. part. distinguishing)  
1.
Not set apart from others by visible marks; to make distinctive or discernible by exhibiting differences; to mark off by some characteristic. "Not more distinguished by her purple vest, Than by the charming features of her face." "Milton has distinguished the sweetbrier and the eglantine."
2.
To separate by definition of terms or logical division of a subject with regard to difference; as, to distinguish sounds into high and low. "Moses distinguished the causes of the flood into those that belong to the heavens, and those that belong to the earth."
3.
To recognize or discern by marks, signs, or characteristic quality or qualities; to know and discriminate (anything) from other things with which it might be confounded; as, to distinguish the sound of a drum. "We are enabled to distinguish good from evil, as well as truth from falsehood." "Nor more can you distinguish of a man, Than of his outward show."
4.
To constitute a difference; to make to differ. "Who distinguisheth thee?"
5.
To separate from others by a mark of honor; to make eminent or known; to confer distinction upon; with by or for."To distinguish themselves by means never tried before."
Synonyms: To mark; discriminate; differentiate; characterize; discern; perceive; signalize; honor; glorify.



Distinguish  v. i.  
1.
To make distinctions; to perceive the difference; to exercise discrimination; with between; as, a judge distinguishes between cases apparently similar, but differing in principle.
2.
To become distinguished or distinctive; to make one's self or itself discernible. (R.) "The little embryo... first distinguishes into a little knot."






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Distinguish" Quotes from Famous Books



... have now set down all those particulars of the treaty with Epernon and the consequent pacification of Brittany in the year 1598 which it will be of advantage to the public to know, that it may the better distinguish in the future those who have selfishly impoverished the State from those who, in its behalf, have incurred obloquy and high looks, I proceed next to the events which followed the King's ...
— From the Memoirs of a Minister of France • Stanley Weyman

... on the Whig side, was a State senator, commonly known as "Bray'' Dickinson, to distinguish him from D. S. Dickinson who had been a senator of the United States, and a candidate for the Presidency. "Bray'' Dickinson was a most earnest supporter of Mr. Seward; staunch, prompt, vigorous, and really devoted to the public good. One story ...
— Volume I • Andrew Dickson White

... away, he pushed his way through them and took his share of the work, laughing idiotically from time to time. He had, when he saw that the galleon was sinking, taken off his doublet, the better to be able to swim, and in his shirt and trunks there was nothing to distinguish him from a Spaniard, and none suspected that he was other than he seemed to be—a ship's boy, who had lost his senses from fear. When the work was done, he threw himself on the deck with the weary sailors. His hopes were that the battle ...
— By England's Aid • G. A. Henty

... rapped out a curse that rattled even in the ears of magistracy; the chin of Flacks the morning lecturer gravitated downwards into the dimensions of a patriarchal beard; and the town-council could distinguish an assortment of audible reproaches to the memory of Mr Kabel, such as prig, rascal, profane wretch, &c. But the Mayor motioned with his hand, and immediately the fiscal and the bookseller recomposed their ...
— The Uncollected Writings of Thomas de Quincey, Vol. 2 - With a Preface and Annotations by James Hogg • Thomas de Quincey

... bestowed. How then was it possible to doubt, that every slave in the Mauritius should receive his freedom, when the only ground alleged for not singling out and liberating this fifty thousand, was the inability to distinguish them from the rest? If ten men are tried for an offence, and it is clear that five are innocent, though you cannot distinguish them from their companions, what jury will hesitate in acquitting the whole, on ...
— The History of the Rise, Progress and Accomplishment of the - Abolition of the African Slave-Trade, by the British Parliament (1839) • Thomas Clarkson


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