different between distinction vs wrangle

English

Etymology

From Middle English distinccioun, from Old French distinction (attested 12th century), from the Latin accusative distinctionem, action noun of distinguo (“I distinguish”). Used in English from the late 14th century.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d??st??k??n/

Noun

distinction (countable and uncountable, plural distinctions)

1. That which distinguishes; a single occurrence of a determining factor or feature, the fact of being divided; separation, discrimination.
2. The act of distinguishing, discriminating; discrimination.
3. Specifically, a feature that causes someone or something to stand out as being better; a mark of honour, rank, eminence or excellence; being distinguished.
   • 2013, Daniel Taylor, Steven Gerrard goal against Poland ensures England will go to World Cup (in The Guardian, 15 October 2013)[2]

     Leighton Baines, playing with distinction again, sent over a left-wing cross with pace and accuracy. Welbeck, prominently involved all night, could not reach it but Rooney was directly behind him, flashing his header past Szczesny.

Antonyms

• (that which distinguishes): confusion

Derived terms

• contradistinction
• distinction without a difference

Related terms

• distinct
• distinguish
• distinguished
• distinguishable
• distinguishness

Translations

French

Etymology

From Old French distinction (attested in the 12th century), from borrowed from the Latin accusative distinctionem, the action noun of distinguere (“distinguish”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dis.t??k.sj??/
• Rhymes: -??
• Homophone: distinctions

Noun

distinction f (plural distinctions)

1. distinction (difference, honour)

Related terms

• distinct
• distinguer

Further reading

• “distinction” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

English

Etymology

From Middle English wranglen, from Low German wrangeln (“to wrangle”), frequentative form of wrangen (“to struggle, make an uproar”); equivalent to wring +? -le. Related to Danish vringle (“to twist, entangle”) and German rangeln (“to wrestle”). More at wrong, wring.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??æ?.??l/
• Rhymes: -æ???l

Verb

wrangle (third-person singular simple present wrangles, present participle wrangling, simple past and past participle wrangled)

1. (intransitive) To bicker, or quarrel angrily and noisily.
   • c. 1611, William Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act V, Scene 1,^[1]

     Yes, for a score of kingdoms you should wrangle,

     And I would call it, fair play.

   • 1716, Joseph Addison, The Freeholder, No. 39, Friday, May 4, 1716, in The Works of Joseph Addison, Volume III, New York: Harper & Brothers, 1837, p. 235,^[2]

     He did not know what it was to wrangle on indifferent points, to triumph in the superiority of his understanding, or to be supercilious on the side of truth.

   • 1941, Emily Carr, Klee Wyck, Chapter 18,^[3]

     I stood where land and sea wrangled ferociously over the overlap.

2. (transitive) To herd (horses or other livestock); (humorously) to supervise, manage (people).
   • 1962, “The Second Time Around,” Time, 12 January, 1962,^[4]

     When she tries to wrangle a calf, she ends up flat on her face in the barnyard muck.

   • 2010, Sean Gordon, “Gionta settles in, stands out,” The Globe and Mail, 3 October, 2010,^[5]

     Wrangling a chaotic group of five-year-olds is unnerving enough without the added stress of a famous NHLer in the room helping lace his son’s skates.

3. (transitive, by figurative extension from the sense with animals and people) To gather and organize (facts, information, data), especially in ways that require sentience rather than automated methods alone, as in data wrangling.

   Synonym: munge

4. (transitive) To involve in a quarrel or dispute; to embroil.
   • 1649, Robert Sanderson, Letter to N. N. respecting the relative Merits of the Presbyterians and the Independents, 10 April, 1649, in George D’Oyly, The Life of William Sancroft, Archbishop of Canterbury, Volume II, London: John Murray, 1821, Appendix, p. 442,^[6]

     When we have wrangled ourselves as long as our wits and strengths will serve us, the honest, downright sober English Protestant will be found, in the end, the man in the safest way, and by the surest line […]

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:squabble

Derived terms

• wrangler
• wrangling

Translations

Noun

wrangle (plural wrangles)

1. An act of wrangling.

   Wrangle and bloodshed followed thence.

2. An angry dispute.
   • January 31 2020, Boris Johnson, Brexit Day speech

     For many people this is an astonishing moment of hope, a moment they thought would never come. And there are many of course who feel a sense of anxiety and loss. And then of course there is a third group — perhaps the biggest — who had started to worry that the whole political wrangle would never come to an end.

Translations

Anagrams

• Wangler, wangler