distinguishing

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dis·tin·guish

(dĭ-stĭng′gwĭsh)

v. dis·tin·guished, dis·tin·guish·ing, dis·tin·guish·es

v.tr.

a. To perceive as being different or distinct: Can you distinguish a pattern in this behavior?

b. To perceive distinctly; discern: The lookout distinguished the masts of ships on the horizon.

a. To demonstrate or describe as being different or distinct: a scientist who distinguished four species of the plant.

b. To be an identifying characteristic of; make noticeable or different: These spices distinguish this style of Asian cooking.

3. To cause (oneself) to be respected or eminent: They have distinguished themselves as dedicated social workers.

v.intr.

To perceive or indicate differences; discriminate: Can the child distinguish between right and wrong?

[Alteration of obsolete distingue, from Middle English distinguen, from Old French distinguer, from Latin distinguere, to separate; see steig- in Indo-European roots.]

dis·tin′guish·a·ble adj.

dis·tin′guish·a·bly adv.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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distinguishing

adjective characteristic, marked, distinctive, typical, signature, peculiar, differentiating, individualistic The bird has no distinguishing features.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

διακριτικός

distinguishing

[dɪsˈtɪŋgwɪʃɪŋ] ADJ → distintivo
distinguishing features [of landscape, sb's work] → rasgos mpl característicos, características fpl; [of animal] → rasgos mpl distintivos
distinguishing mark → marca f distintiva

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

distinguishing

[dɪˈstɪŋgwɪʃɪŋ] adj [feature] → distinctif/ive, caractéristique

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

distinguishing

adj → kennzeichnend, charakteristisch; he has no distinguishing features → er hat keine besonderen Kennzeichen; the distinguishing feature of his work is … → was seine Arbeit auszeichnet or kennzeichnet, ist …

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

distinguishing

[dɪsˈtɪŋgwɪʃɪŋ] adj (marks, characteristics, features) → distintivo/a, caratteristico/a

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

References in classic literature ?

But when we do this, the possibility of distinguishing the sensation from the sense-datum vanishes; at least I see no way of preserving the distinction.

If we admit--as I think we should--that the patch of colour may be both physical and psychical, the reason for distinguishing the sense-datum from the sensation disappears, and we may say that the patch of colour and our sensation in seeing it are identical.

But by his own confession in the above passage, his criterion for distinguishing them is not always adequate.

Professor Stout, in his "Manual of Psychology," after discussing various ways of distinguishing sensations and images, arrives at a view which is a modification of Hume's.

(3) This brings us to the third mode of distinguishing images from sensations, namely, by their causes and effects.

View in context

And in this it is not likely that all are mistaken the conviction is rather to be held as testifying that the power of judging aright and of distinguishing truth from error, which is properly what is called good sense or reason, is by nature equal in all men; and that the diversity of our opinions, consequently, does not arise from some being endowed with a larger share of reason than others, but solely from this, that we conduct our thoughts along different ways, and do not fix our attention on the same objects.

View in context

A BLIND MAN was accustomed to distinguishing different animals by touching them with his hands.

View in context

Acharya introduced a new concept which is distance pattern distinguishing set of a graph.

On the distance pattern distinguishing number of a graph

Instead, the military will recognize service members who directly affect combat operations without being present through distinguishing devices that will be affixed to already existing awards.

DOD secretary eliminates new medal

Based on the accumulation theory of minimal effects, reporting academic program rankings and the distinguishing features of those programs may help to shape the norms, beliefs, and expectations of faculty, administrators, and students in the future (Hossler, 1998).

Characteristics of distinguished programs of agricultural education

However, he had problems distinguishing the triangular paddle from the undulating or cylindrical shapes.

Harbor seals 'can sense the fattest fish using just their whiskers'

Keratosis obturans is the most difficult to distinguish, and since EACC may require surgical intervention and keratosis obturans is managed medically, distinguishing between these entities is important.