distinguish
/dɪsˈtɪŋɡwɪʃ/dih-STINGG-wish
/dɪsˈtɪŋɡwɪʃ/dih-STINGG-wish
Meaningto prick apart; to mark off
Common meaning: to tell apart
- diapart
- stinguto prick; to quenchLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 704 · scan
- ishverb ending (from French -iss-)
‘apart’ + ‘to prick’ → distinguish
Journey through time
- Aryan root · reconstructed√STIG‘stick or pierce, to sting, prick’No written record; from Skeat’s list of Aryan roots, no. 428, p. 745 · scan
- Latin-stinguō, -stīnctum‘to prick’
- Englishdistinguish‘to tell apart’ · today
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 -stinguō ‘to prick; to quench’.
Did you know: our wording, based on Lewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), entry -stinguō, p. 704 · dictionary scan
Roots
- -stinguō, -stīnctum Latin “to prick; to quench”
Related words
Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app