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distant

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁
Proto-Indo-European *d(w)is-
Proto-Italic *dis-
Latin dis-
Proto-Indo-European *steh₂-
Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁ti
Proto-Indo-European *-yeti
Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁yeti
Proto-Indo-European *sth₂éh₁yeti
Proto-Italic *staējō
Proto-Italic *staēō
Latin stō
Latin distō
Latin distānsder.
Old French distantbor.
Middle English distaunt
English distant

    Inherited from Middle English distaunt, from Old French distant, from Latin distāns.

    Pronunciation

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    • IPA(key): /ˈdɪstənt/
    • Audio (US):(file)
    • Rhymes: -ɪstənt

    Adjective

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    distant (comparative more distant, superlative most distant)

    1. Far off (physically, logically or mentally).
      Synonyms: faraway; see also Thesaurus:distant
      We heard a distant rumbling but didn't pay any more attention to it.   She was surprised to find that her fiancé was a distant relative of hers.   His distant look showed that he was not listening to me.
      • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
        Judge Short had gone to town, and Farrar was off for a three days' cruise up the lake. I was bitterly regretting I had not gone with him when the distant notes of a coach horn reached my ear, and I descried a four-in-hand winding its way up the inn road from the direction of Mohair.
    2. Emotionally unresponsive or unwilling to express genuine feelings.
      Synonyms: aloof, cold; see also Thesaurus:aloof
      Ever since our argument, she has been totally distant toward me.
    3. (television, not comparable) Imported into a cable television system from a different market (and thus possibly incurring a copyright royalty).
      Antonym: local
      • 1973, Cable Television, Rand Corporation:
        Any determination that a particular television signal is "distant" must, of course, be made with respect to its proximity to a specific local area, which we have termed the CATV community, […]
      • 1983, Gary L. Christensen, Cable Television in a New Era, page 128:
        Finally, there will be those unusual situations where a signal is distant to part of a CATV system and local to the rest of it.

    Noun

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    distant (plural distants)

    1. This term needs a definition. Please help out and add a definition, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.
      • 1881, “Railway Signalling”, in The Railway Engineer‎[1], volume 2, page 76:
        Semaphore signals are now variously designated according to the situation or functions they fulfil e.g. "starters," "distants," "stops," "homes," "receiving " "departing," and "distributing" signals; but virtually they may be all reduced and recognized as the three former.

    Derived terms

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    Translations

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    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
    Translations to be checked

    Further reading

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    Anagrams

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    Catalan

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    Etymology

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    Learned borrowing from Latin distantem.

    Pronunciation

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    Adjective

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    distant m or f (masculine and feminine plural distants)

    1. distant
      Synonyms: llunyà, remot
      Antonyms: pròxim, proper
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    Further reading

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    French

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    Etymology

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      Learned borrowing from Latin distantem.

      Pronunciation

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      Adjective

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      distant (feminine distante, masculine plural distants, feminine plural distantes)

      1. distant
      2. aloof
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      Descendants

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      • → Romanian: distant

      Further reading

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      Latin

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      Verb

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      distant

      1. third-person plural present active indicative of distō

      Romanian

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      Etymology

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      Borrowed from French distant, from Latin distantem.

      Adjective

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      distant m or n (feminine singular distantă, masculine plural distanți, feminine/neuter plural distante)

      1. distant, remote

      Declension

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      Declension of distant
      singular plural
      masculine neuter feminine masculine neuter feminine
      nominative-
      accusative       		indefinite distant distantă distanți distante
      definite distantul distanta distanții distantele
      genitive-
      dative       		indefinite distant distante distanți distante
      definite distantului distantei distanților distantelor
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      Romansh

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      Etymology

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      Learned borrowing from Latin distantem.

      Adjective

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      distant m (feminine singular distanta, masculine plural distants, feminine plural distantas)

      1. (Puter) distant, remote, faraway
        Synonym: luntaun
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