distinct

comparative distincter · comparative more distinct · superlative distinctest · superlative most distinct

1. Capable of being perceived very clearly.

   Her voice was distinct despite the heavy traffic.

   1 more example

   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.

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

   Synonyms: clear

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

   Horses are distinct from zebras.

   1 more example

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

   1928, Lawrence R. Bourne, chapter 13, in Well Tackled!

   Synonyms: different, separate, several

3. Noticeably different from others; distinctive.

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

   1 more example

   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.

   2011 October 20, Associated Press, “Basque group ETA declares end to violent campaign”, in CBC News, archived from the original on 16 Jul 2025

   Synonyms: characteristic, distinctive, prominent

4. Separate in place; not conjunct or united; with from.

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

   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

   Synonyms: discrete, individual, noncontinuous, separate

5. obsoleteDistinguished; having the difference marked; separated by a visible sign; marked out; specified.

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

   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

   Synonyms: specified

6. obsoleteMarked; variegated.

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

   1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto III”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 23

   Synonyms: patterned

present singular third person distincts · participle present distincting · participle past distincted · past distincted

1. obsoletetransitiveTo distinguish; to make a distinction.

   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 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