distant

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁
▲
Proto-Indo-European *trísinflu.
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

    • (UK, US, Canada, Australia) IPA(key): /ˈdɪstənt/
      • Audio (California):(file)
    • Rhymes: -ɪstənt

    Adjective

    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

    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

    Translations

    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

    Anagrams

    Catalan

    Etymology

      Learned borrowing from Latin distantem.

      Pronunciation

      Adjective

      distant m or f (masculine and feminine plural distants)

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

      Further reading

      French

      Etymology

        Learned borrowing from Latin distantem.

        Pronunciation

        Adjective

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

        1. distant
        2. aloof

        Descendants

        • → Romanian: distant

        Further reading

        Latin

        Verb

        distant

        1. third-person plural present active indicative of distō

        Romanian

        Etymology

        Etymology tree
        Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁
        ▲
        Proto-Indo-European *trísinflu.
        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 distantemlbor.
        French distantbor.
        Romanian distant

          Borrowed from French distant, a learned borrowing from Latin distantem.

          Adjective

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

          1. distant, remote

          Declension

          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

          Romansh

          Etymology

          Learned borrowing from Latin distantem.

          Adjective

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

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