distinctive

adjectivenounattested in dialogue

//dɪˈstɪŋktɪv//

Distinguishing, used to or enabling the distinguishing of some thing.

adjective

1
Distinguishing, used to or enabling the distinguishing of some thing.
a product in distinctive packaging
Our Apparell was giuen vs as a signe distinctiue to discern betwixt sex and sex.
2
rareDiscriminating, discerning, having the ability to distinguish between things.
[…]more judicious and distinctive heads...
3
Characteristic, typical.
his distinctive bass voice
Wordsworth's distinctive work was a war with pomp and pretence, and a display of the majesty of simple feelings and humble hearts.
4
rareDistinguished, being distinct in character or position.
The refugees... at length ceased to exist as a distinctive body among the people.
5
Used to separate clauses in place of stops.
These are the main distinctive accents, and by stopping at them... the reader will do justice to the sense.
6
Distinguishing a particular sense of word.
Normally we symbolize only phonemes (distinctive features) so far as we can determine them.

Etymology

From Latin distinctus, perfect passive participle of distinguere (to push apart, to divide; see distinct) + -ive (forming adjectives signifying relation or tendency to). Cognate with French distinctif and Medieval Latin distinctivus.

noun

1
A distinctive thing: a quality or property permitting distinguishing; a characteristic.
...the red umbrella, the distinctive of royalty here...
2
A distinctive accent.
A distinctive of less power than Zakeph is Ṭiphḥâ.
3
A distinctive belief, tenet, or dogma of a denomination or sect.
Mennonites could go forth somewhat detached from the chauvinism of Western culture—but not so from the Mennonite distinctives.

Forms

plural: distinctives
comparative: more distinctive
superlative: most distinctive

distant · Far off (physically, logically or mentally).distinct · Capable of being perceived very clearly.distinction · That which distinguishes; a single occurrence of a…

distinctive · Distinguishing, used to or enabling the distinguishing of some thing.

distinctly · In a distinct manner.distinguish · To recognize someone or something as different from others…distinguished · Celebrated, well-known or eminent because of achievements or…

The neighbouring pages — Alphabetical order follows the rules of the language, not byte values: an accent decides only between two otherwise identical words, and Spanish files Ñ as a letter of its own.