Etymology

From Middle EnglishCategory:English terms inherited from Middle English#DISTINCTIONCategory:English terms derived from Middle English#DISTINCTION distinccioun, from Old FrenchCategory:English terms derived from Old French#DISTINCTION distinction (attested from the 12th century), borrowed from LatinCategory:English terms derived from Latin#DISTINCTION distinctiōnem, action noun of distinguō (“separate, distinguish”). Attested in English from the late 14th century.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɪˈstɪŋkʃən/Category:English 3-syllable words#DISTINCTIONCategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#DISTINCTION

• Audio (US):

  (file)

  Category:English terms with audio pronunciation#DISTINCTION

Noun

distinction (countable and uncountable, plural distinctions)Category:English lemmas#DISTINCTIONCategory:English nouns#DISTINCTIONCategory:English uncountable nouns#DISTINCTIONCategory:English countable nouns#DISTINCTIONCategory:English countable nouns#DISTINCTIONCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#DISTINCTIONCategory:Pages with entries#DISTINCTIONCategory:Pages with 2 entries#DISTINCTION

1. That which distinguishes; a single occurrence of a determining factor or feature, the fact of being divided; separation, discrimination.
   • 1954, Plato, translated by Hugh Tredennick, “Socrates on Trial: The Apology”, in The Last Days of Socrates (Penguin Classics), Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books, →OCLC, page 20:

     The proper course for me, gentlemen of the jury, is to deal first with the earliest charges that have been falsely brought against me, and with my earliest accursers; and then with the later ones. I make this distinction because […]

     Category:English terms with quotations#DISTINCTION

2. The act of distinguishing, discriminating; discrimination.

   There is a distinction to be made between resting and slacking.Category:English terms with usage examples#DISTINCTION

   We must always make a distinction that right versus wrong is different from legal and illegal.Category:English terms with usage examples#DISTINCTION

   • 1921, Bertrand Russell, “Lecture II”, in The Analysis of Mind:

     In spite of these qualifications, the broad distinction between instinct and habit is undeniable. To take extreme cases, every animal at birth can take food by instinct, before it has had opportunity to learn; on the other hand, no one can ride a bicycle by instinct, though, after learning, the necessary movements become just as automatic as if they were instinctive.

     Category:English terms with quotations#DISTINCTION

   • 1911, “Evidence”, in Encyclopædia Britannica:

     But, for practical purposes, it is possible to draw a distinction between a statement of facts observed and an expression of opinion as to the inference to be drawn from these facts, and the rule telling witnesses to state facts and not express opinions is of great value in keeping their statements out of the region of argument and conjecture.

     Category:English terms with quotations#DISTINCTION

   • 2020, Joel Swanson, “Are anti-Semitism fears stopping Jewish Dems from supporting Bernie Sanders?”, in The Forward:

     This reflects a longtime distinction between "good Jews" and "international Jews," drawn in a 1920 article by Winston Churchill, which put in the "good category" "national Jews" assimilated into British culture and Zionist Jews in Palestine, and into the malevolent one those who fueled "this world-wide conspiracy for the overthrow of civilization."

     Category:English terms with quotations#DISTINCTION

   • 2023 September 16, HarryBlank, “Borrowing Trouble”, in SCP Foundation‎, archived from the original on 15 June 2024:

     Gedeon Van Rompay had the dubious distinction of being the only Site employee personally hired by Edwin Falkirk, former All Sections Chief and perennial piece of human trash. Lillian had found it easy not to hold this against the man, but only because there were so many other odious things about him to choose from. He was misogynist, he was chauvinistic, he was boorish, he was violent. Just about the only metric on which she rated Van Rompay higher than Falkirk was transphobia; the big man made no distinction between varieties of womanhood, feeling superior to all of them equally.

     Category:English terms with quotations#DISTINCTION

3. A feature that causes someone or something to stand out from others of its type.
   • 2023 September 16, HarryBlank, “Borrowing Trouble”, in SCP Foundation‎, archived from the original on 15 June 2024:

     Gedeon Van Rompay had the dubious distinction of being the only Site employee personally hired by Edwin Falkirk, former All Sections Chief and perennial piece of human trash. Lillian had found it easy not to hold this against the man, but only because there were so many other odious things about him to choose from. He was misogynist, he was chauvinistic, he was boorish, he was violent. Just about the only metric on which she rated Van Rompay higher than Falkirk was transphobia; the big man made no distinction between varieties of womanhood, feeling superior to all of them equally.

     Category:English terms with quotations#DISTINCTION

   1. (specifically) A feature that causes someone or something to stand out as being better; a mark of honour, rank, eminence or excellence; the quality of being distinguished.

      She had the distinction of meeting the Queen.Category:English terms with usage examples#DISTINCTION

      • 1921, Ben Travers, chapter 2, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:

        Mother […] considered that the exclusiveness of Peter's circle was due not to its distinction, but to the fact that it was an inner Babylon of prodigality and whoredom, from which every Kensingtonian held aloof, except on the conventional tip-and-run excursions in pursuit of shopping, tea and theatres.

        Category:English terms with quotations#DISTINCTION

      • 2013 October 15, Daniel Taylor, The Guardian‎:

        Leighton Baines, playing with distinction again, sent over a left-wing cross with pace and accuracy. Welbeck, prominently involved all night, could not reach it but Rooney was directly behind him, flashing his header past Szczesny.

        Category:English terms with quotations#DISTINCTION

Etymology

Inherited from Old FrenchCategory:French terms inherited from Old French#DISTINCTIONCategory:French terms derived from Old French#DISTINCTION distinction (attested from the 12th century), borrowed from LatinCategory:French terms derived from Latin#DISTINCTION distinctiōnem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dis.tɛ̃k.sjɔ̃/Category:French 3-syllable words#DISTINCTIONCategory:French terms with IPA pronunciation#DISTINCTION

• Audio:

  (file)

  Category:French terms with audio pronunciation#DISTINCTION

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

  Category:French terms with audio pronunciation#DISTINCTION

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

  Category:French terms with audio pronunciation#DISTINCTION
• Rhymes: -ɔ̃Category:Rhymes:French/ɔ̃#DISTINCTION
• Homophone: distinctionsCategory:French terms with homophones#DISTINCTION

Noun

distinction f (plural distinctions)Category:French lemmas#DISTINCTIONCategory:French nouns#DISTINCTIONCategory:French countable nouns#DISTINCTIONCategory:French entries with incorrect language header#DISTINCTIONCategory:French feminine nouns#DISTINCTIONCategory:Pages with entries#DISTINCTIONCategory:Pages with 2 entries#DISTINCTION

1. distinction (difference, honour)

Further reading

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