distinction

noun

Etymology: From Middle English distinccioun, from Old French distinction (attested from the 12th century), borrowed from Latin distinctiōnem, action noun of distinguō (“separate, distinguish”). Attested in English from the late 14th century.

1. That which distinguishes; a single occurrence of a determining factor or feature, the fact of being divided; separation, discrimination.

   “The proper course for me, gentlemen of the jury, is to deal first with the earliest charges that have been falsely brought against me, and with my earliest accursers; and then with the later ones. I make this distinction because […]”

2. The act of distinguishing, discriminating; discrimination.

   “There is a distinction to be made between resting and slacking.”

   “We must always make a distinction that right versus wrong is different from legal and illegal.”

3. A feature that causes someone or something to stand out from others of its type.

   “Gedeon Van Rompay had the dubious distinction of being the only Site employee personally hired by Edwin Falkirk, former All Sections Chief and perennial piece of human trash. Lillian had found it easy not to hold this against the man, but only because there were so many other odious things about him to choose from. He was misogynist, he was chauvinistic, he was boorish, he was violent. Just about the only metric on which she rated Van Rompay higher than Falkirk was transphobia; the big man made no distinction between varieties of womanhood, feeling superior to all of them equally.”

4. A feature that causes someone or something to stand out from others of its type.

   “She had the distinction of meeting the Queen.”

   “Mother[…]considered that the exclusiveness of Peter's circle was due not to its distinction, but to the fact that it was an inner Babylon of prodigality and whoredom, from which every Kensingtonian held aloof, except on the conventional tip-and-run excursions in pursuit of shopping, tea and theatres.”