Search the Dictionary

The state of being of high rank or noble birth; patrician dignity; antiquity of family; distinction by rank, station, or title, whether inherited or conferred. I fell on the same argument of preferring virtue to nobility of blood and titles, in the story of Sigismunda. Dryden.

One of the followers of Noetus, who lived in the third century. He denied the distinct personality of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Customary; ordinary; -- applied to the usual English spelling, in distinction from strictly phonetic methods. H Sweet. -- n.

Having no distinction of sex; sexless; neuter.

A person, or thing, of distinction.

A mark or token by which a thing may be known; a visible sign; a character; a distinctive mark or feature; a characteristic quality. Whosoever appertain to the visible body of the church, they have also the notes of external profession. Hooker. She [the Anglican church] has the note of possession, the note of freedom f…

tal apprehension; in conception; not in reality. Two faculties . . . notionally or really distinct. Norris.

The bottom part of a mold or of a flask, in distinction from the cope; the drag.

te of units; a numerable aggregate or collection of individuals; an assemblage made up of distinct things expressible by figures.

Indistinct; slurred over. [Obs.] "Obscure and oblite mention." Fuller.

Scarcely distinct; -- applied to the markings of insects.

Of or pertaining to darkness or night; inconspicuous to the sight; indistinctly seen; hidden; retired; remote from observation; unnoticed. The obscure bird Clamored the livelong night. Shak. The obscure corners of the earth. Sir J. Davies.

Not very distinct; obscure; rudimental; imperfectly developed; abortive.

Indistinctness; want of development.

e inquire what it is that occasions men to make several combinations of simple ideas into distinct modes. Locke.

Of or pertaining to the Octandria; having eight distinct stamens.

e is on foot; in the United States, the right side; as, the off horse or ox in a team, in distinction from the Ant: nigh or Ant: near horse or ox; the off leg.

Specifically, a commissioned officer, in distinction from a warrant officer. Field officer, General officer, etc. See under Field, General. etc. -- Officer of the day (Mil.), the officer who, on a given day, has charge for that day of the quard, prisoners, and police of the post or camp. -- Officer of the deck, or Of…

A more or less distinct transfer of a printed page or picture to the opposite page, when the pages are pressed together before the ink is dry or when it is poor. Offset staff (Surv.), a rod, usually ten links long, used in measuring offsets.

he history of the evolution of the germ; the development of an individual organism, -- in distinction from phylogeny, or evolution of the tribe. Called also henogenesis, henogeny.