Verb: distinguish di'sting-gwish
- Detect or identify something despite difficulty or distance
"I could barely distinguish the ship through the fog";
- spot, recognize, recognise [Brit], discern, pick out, make out
- Make or perceive a clear distinction between
"We distinguish several kinds of maple";
- separate, differentiate, secern [rare], severalize [rare], severalise [Brit, rare], tell apart
- Be a distinctive feature, attribute, or trait; sometimes in a very positive sense
"His modesty distinguishes him from his peers";
- mark, differentiate
- Classify or apply the appropriate name to, e.g. in botany or biology
"The botanist distinguished the new plant species";
- identify, discover, key, key out, describe, name
- Make conspicuous or noteworthy
"Her actions distinguished her as a leader";
- signalize, signalise [Brit]
Derived forms: distinguished, distinguishes, distinguishing
Type of: characterise [Brit], characterize, detect, determine, discover, find, finger [informal], identify, mark, notice, observe, place, qualify, set
Encyclopedia: Distinguish