Distinguished

How to spell distinguished

13 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce distinguished

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does distinguished mean?

1. adjectiveCommanding great respect through achievement, rank, or dignified bearing.
2. verbPast tense of distinguish: recognised or marked as different from something else.

Distinguished in a sentence

• adjective

  The award honours a distinguished career in medical research.

• verb

  She easily distinguished the genuine notes from the forgeries.

• adjective

  A distinguished panel of judges reviewed the final entries.

• verb

  The report distinguished between gross income and net profit.

Where does distinguished come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb distinguere, which literally meant 'to separate by pricking', built from dis- 'apart' and the root stinguere 'to prick or mark'. The underlying idea was of marking points apart so they could be told one from another, and from that grew the sense of telling things apart or recognising a difference. English took the word in the late 1500s, partly through French distinguer, adding the native English -ish ending to form 'distinguish'. The participle 'distinguished' then drifted from 'set apart by a mark' to the admiring modern sense of someone who stands out by merit, rank, or dignified appearance. The same Latin root sits behind 'extinguish', literally 'to prick out' a flame, which is a useful reminder that the spelling carries the -gu- cluster from stinguere rather than a plain -g-.

How the word is built

• dis- (apart)
• -stingu- (from Latin stinguere/distinguere: to prick apart, mark off)
• -ish (verb-forming)
• -ed (past participle/adjective suffix)