A.Word.A.Day --contradistinguish

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contradistinguish

PRONUNCIATION:

(kon-truh-di-STING-gwish)

MEANING:

verb tr.: To distinguish (one thing from another) by contrasting qualities.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin contra- (against) + distinguish, from Middle/Old French distinguer, from Latin distinguere (to pick or separate). Ultimately from the Indo-European root steig- (to stick; pointed), which is also the source of ticket, etiquette, instinct, stigma, thistle, tiger, and steak. Earliest documented use: 1622.

USAGE:

"Avni successfully contradistinguished the character of Menachem from the other men in uniform he has played."
Dan Williams; Aki Avni's Stellar Sincerity; The Jerusalem Post (Israel); Nov 29, 2000.

See more usage examples of contradistinguish in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

There is nothing like desire for preventing the things one says from bearing any resemblance to what one has in one's mind. -Marcel Proust, novelist (1871-1922)

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