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distinct

[dih-stingkt]

adjective

distinguished as not being the same; not identical; separate (sometimes followed by from): His private and public lives are distinct.

different in nature or quality; dissimilar (sometimes followed by from): Gold is distinct from iron.

clear to the senses or intellect; plain; unmistakable: The ship appeared as a distinct silhouette.

distinguishing or perceiving clearly: distinct vision.

unquestionably exceptional or notable: a distinct honor.

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Archaic. distinctively decorated or adorned.

COLLAPSE

Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English < Latin distinctus, past participle of disting(u)ere to divide off, pick out, distinguish (di- di-² + *sting(u)ere presumably, to prick, mark by pricking; compare instinct¹, instigate)

Related forms

dis·tinct·ness, noun

Synonyms
1. individual. See various. 3. well-defined, unconfused.

Antonyms
3, 4. indistinct.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Distinct is always a great word to know.

So is doohickey. Does it mean:

a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.

a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.

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Example Sentences

Garcia's novel is a richly patterned mini-epic, a moving chorus of distinct voices.

And then we approached our target and it was quite distinct.

Each plate moves as a distinct block.

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Collins

World English Dictionary

distinct (dɪˈstɪŋkt)

—*adj*
1.	easily sensed or understood; clear; precise
2.	(when postpositive, foll by from) not the same (as); separate (from); distinguished (from)
3.	not alike; different
4.	sharp; clear
5.	recognizable; definite: a distinct improvement
6.	explicit; unequivocal
7.	maths, logic (of a pair of entities) not identical
8.	botany (of parts of a plant) not joined together; separate

[C14: from Latin distinctus, from distinguere to distinguish]

dis'tinctly

—*adv*

dis'tinctness

—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

distinct

late 14c., from L. distinctus, pp. of distinguere (see distinguish). Related: Distinctly.

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"distinctly, in the sense really quite, is the badge of the superior person indulgently recognizing unexpected merit in something that we are to understand is not quite worthy of his notice." [Fowler]

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Matching Quote

"The man who, from the beginning of his life, has been bathed at length in the soft atmosphere of a woman, in the smell of her hands, of her bosom, of her knees, of her hair, of her supple and floating clothes, ... has contracted from this contact a tender skin and a distinct accent, a kind of androgyny without which the harshest and most masculine genius remains, as far as perfection in art is concerned, an incomplete being."

-Charles Baudelaire

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