distinguir
Spanish, verb/distinˈɡiɾ/
distinguir is spelled D-I-S-T-I-N-G-U-I-R (10 letters) and appears 10 times per million words in written Spanish, the 7,116th most frequent Spanish word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Distinguir is a Spanish verb meaning “to distinguish, discern” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) defines it as “Percibir una cosa en medio de otras, o de circunstancias como el ruido, la oscuridad, etc. que lo dificultan…”.
What does distinguir mean in English?
verb
- 1
to distinguish, discern
- 2
to differentiate, set apart
- 3
to make out, manage to see, hear etc.
No distingo el número de la casa
- 4
to stand out, be distinguishable or differentiable, to distinguish oneself
Se distinguen por su acento
Source: English Wiktionary, Spanish section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How Spanish dictionaries define it
verb: 1. Percibir una cosa en medio de otras, o de circunstancias como el ruido, la oscuridad, etc. que lo dificultan, con alguno de los sentidos. 2. Poder ver o comprender la diferencia entre dos cosas. 3. Hacer que una cosa sea diferente de otras. 4. Otorgar una cualidad o característica individual.
The definition in the Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario), in Spanish.
Source: Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of distinguir
- distingo first-person present singular
- distinguí first-person preterite singular
- distinguido participle past
- g-gu alternation
- distinguiendo gerund
- distinguida feminine participle past
- distinguidos masculine participle past
- distinguidas feminine participle past
- distingues indicative informal present
- distinguís indicative informal present
- distingue indicative present singular
- distinguimos first-person indicative plural
- distinguen indicative plural present
- distinguía first-person imperfect indicative
- distinguías imperfect indicative second-person
- distinguíamos first-person imperfect indicative
- distinguíais imperfect indicative plural
- distinguían imperfect indicative plural
Source: English Wiktionary and Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce distinguir?
- /distinˈɡiɾ/
- [d̪is.t̪ĩŋˈɡiɾ]
- [d̪ist̪ĩŋˈgiɾ]
Sources: English Wiktionary, Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to distinguir
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is distinguir in Spanish?
distinguir appears 10 times per million words in written Spanish.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).