distant
/ˈdɪstənt/DIH-stuhnt
/ˈdɪstənt/DIH-stuhnt
Meaningstanding apart
Common meaning: far away
- disapart, awaySkeat, Concise Etymological Dictionary (1911), p. 146 · scan
- tantto stand, be upright or stillLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 1762 · scan
‘apart, away’ + ‘to stand, be upright or still’ → distant
Journey through time
- dis — Latin dis- “apart, away” (path traced)
- tant — Latin stō, stetī, statum “to stand, be upright or still” (path traced)
Parts join in Latin as distantem.
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Built on Latin distantem, which Skeat (Concise Dictionary, 1911) analyses as dis- ‘apart, away’ + stare ‘to stand, be upright or still’.
Roots
- distantem Latin “standing apart”
- stō, stetī, statum Latin “to stand, be upright or still”
Related words
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