distinguer
French, verb/dis.tɛ̃.ɡe/
distinguer is spelled D-I-S-T-I-N-G-U-E-R (10 letters) and appears 12 times per million words in written French, the 5,851st most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Distinguer is a French verb meaning “to distinguish” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Discerner par l’un des sens”.
What does distinguer mean in English?
verb
- 1
to distinguish
Il n'existe pas de critère strictement linguistique permettant de distinguer une langue d'un dialecte.
- 2
to make out (with one of the senses, often visually)
Je n'arrive pas à distinguer les contours de la maison dans la pénombre.
- 3
to be distinguished
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
verb: 1. Discerner par l’un des sens. 2. Discerner par l’opération de l’esprit. 3. Séparer nettement une chose d’une autre selon ce qu’elle a de propre ou de spécial. 4. Marquer les divers sens qu’une proposition peut avoir.
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of distinguer
- avoir + past participle infinitive multiword-construction
- distinguant gerund participle present
- ayant + past participle gerund multiword-construction participle
- distingué participle past
- distingue first-person indicative present
- distingues indicative present second-person
- distinguons first-person indicative plural
- distinguez indicative plural present
- distinguent indicative plural present
- distinguais first-person imperfect indicative
- distinguait imperfect indicative singular
- distinguions first-person imperfect indicative
- distinguiez imperfect indicative plural
- distinguaient imperfect indicative plural
- distinguai first-person historic indicative
- distinguas historic indicative past
- distingua historic indicative past
- distinguâmes first-person historic indicative
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce distinguer?
- /dis.tɛ̃.ɡe/
- \dis.tɛ̃.ɡe\
- [dis.tɛ̃.ge]
Sources: English Wiktionary, French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to distinguer
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is distinguer in French?
distinguer appears 12 times per million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).