different between quaint vs distinctive
quaint
English
Pronunciation
- (UK, US) enPR: kw?nt, IPA(key): /kwe?nt/, [k?we??nt]
- Rhymes: -e?nt
Etymology 1
From Middle English queynte, quoynte, from Anglo-Norman cointe, queinte and Old French cointe (“pretty, clever, knowing”), from Latin cognitus, past participle of cogn?sc? (“I know”).
Adjective
quaint (comparative quainter, superlative quaintest)
- (obsolete) Of a person: cunning, crafty. [13th-19th c.]
- 1591, William Shakespeare, Henry VI part 2:
- But you, my Lord, were glad to be imploy'd, / To shew how queint an Orator you are.
- 1591, William Shakespeare, Henry VI part 2:
- (obsolete) Cleverly made; artfully contrived. [14th-19th c.]
- 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book IX:
- describe races and games, / Or tilting furniture, imblazon'd shields, / Impresses quaint, caparisons and steeds, / Bases and tinsel trappings [...].
- 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book IX:
- (now dialectal) Strange or odd; unusual. [from 14th c.]
- 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, IV.4:
- Till that there entered on the other side / A straunger knight, from whence no man could reed, / In quyent disguise, full hard to be descride […].
- 1924, Time, 17 Nov 1924:
- What none would dispute though many smiled over was the good-humored, necessary, yet quaint omission of the writer's name from the whole consideration.
- 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, IV.4:
- (obsolete) Overly discriminating or needlessly meticulous; fastidious; prim. [15th-19th c.]
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.7:
- She, nothing quaint / Nor 'sdeignfull of so homely fashion, / Sith brought she was now to so hard constraint, / Sate downe upon the dusty ground anon [...].
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.7:
- Pleasingly unusual; especially, having old-fashioned charm. [from 18th c.]
- 1815, Jane Austen, Emma:
- I admire all that quaint, old-fashioned politeness; it is much more to my taste than modern ease; modern ease often disgusts me.
- 2011, Ian Sample, The Guardian, 31 Jan 2011:
- The rock is a haven for rare wildlife, a landscape where pretty hedgerows and quaint villages are bordered by a breathtaking, craggy coastline.
- 1815, Jane Austen, Emma:
Synonyms
- (overly discriminating): See also Thesaurus:fastidious
Derived terms
- quaintly
- quaintness
- quaintsome
Translations
Etymology 2
A variant of cunt (possibly as a pun).
Noun
quaint (plural quaints)
- (archaic) The vulva. [from 14th c.]
- c. 1390, Geoffrey Chaucer, "The Wife of Bath's Tale", Canterbury Tales:
- And trewely, as myne housbondes tolde me, / I hadde þe beste queynte þat myghte be.
- 2003, Peter Ackroyd, The Clerkenwell Tales, p. 9:
- The rest looked on, horrified, as Clarice trussed up her habit and in open view placed her hand within her queynte crying, ‘The first house of Sunday belongs to the sun, and the second to Venus.’
- c. 1390, Geoffrey Chaucer, "The Wife of Bath's Tale", Canterbury Tales:
Anagrams
- quinta
Middle English
Adjective
quaint
- Alternative form of queynte
quaint From the web:
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distinctive
English
Etymology
From Latin distinctus, perfect passive participle of distinguere (“to push apart, to divide”), + -ive (forming adjectives signifying relation or tendency to). Cognate with French distinctif and Medieval Latin distinctivus.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /d??st??kt?v/
Adjective
distinctive (comparative more distinctive, superlative most distinctive)
- Distinguishing, used to or enabling the distinguishing of some thing.
- 1583, Philip Stubbes, The Anatomie of Abuses, Fol. V:
- Our Apparell was giuen vs as a signe distinctiue to discern betwixt sex and sex.
- a product in distinctive packaging
- 1583, Philip Stubbes, The Anatomie of Abuses, Fol. V:
- (rare) Discriminating, discerning, having the ability to distinguish between things.
- 1646, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica, Vol. II, Ch. iii, p. 75:
- ...more judicious and distinctive heads...
- 1646, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica, Vol. II, Ch. iii, p. 75:
- Characteristic, typical.
- 1856, John Ruskin, Modern Painters, Vol. III, p. 293:
- Wordsworth's distinctive work was a war with pomp and pretence, and a display of the majesty of simple feelings and humble hearts.
- his distinctive bass voice
- 1856, John Ruskin, Modern Painters, Vol. III, p. 293:
- (rare) Distinguished, being distinct in character or position.
- 1867, Samuel Smiles, The Huguenots, Ch. xvii, p. 432:
- The refugees... at length ceased to exist as a distinctive body among the people.
- 1867, Samuel Smiles, The Huguenots, Ch. xvii, p. 432:
- (Hebrew grammar, of accents) Used to separate clauses in place of stops.
- 1874, Andrew Bruce Davidson, Introductory Hebrew Grammar, p. 27:
- These are the main distinctive accents, and by stopping at them... the reader will do justice to the sense.
- 1874, Andrew Bruce Davidson, Introductory Hebrew Grammar, p. 27:
- (linguistics, of sounds) Distinguishing a particular sense of word.
- 1927, L. Bloomfield & al., Language, No. 3, p. 129:
- Normally we symbolize only phonemes (distinctive features) so far as we can determine them.
- 1927, L. Bloomfield & al., Language, No. 3, p. 129:
Derived terms
- distinctive feature
Related terms
Translations
Noun
distinctive (plural distinctives)
- A distinctive thing: a quality or property permitting distinguishing; a characteristic.
- 1816, Maurice Keatinge, Travels through France and Spain to Morocco, Vol. I, p. 189:
- ...the red umbrella, the distinctive of royalty here...
- 1816, Maurice Keatinge, Travels through France and Spain to Morocco, Vol. I, p. 189:
- (Hebrew grammar) A distinctive accent.
- 1874, Andrew Bruce Davidson, Introductory Hebrew Grammar, p. 27:
- A distinctive of less power than Zakeph is ?iph?â.
- 1874, Andrew Bruce Davidson, Introductory Hebrew Grammar, p. 27:
- (theology) A distinctive belief, tenet, or dogma of a denomination or sect.
- 1979, Theron F. Schlabach, "Gospel versus Gospel" in Studies in Anabaptist and Mennonite History, p. 154:
- Mennonites could go forth somewhat detached from the chauvinism of Western culture—but not so from the Mennonite distinctives.
- 1979, Theron F. Schlabach, "Gospel versus Gospel" in Studies in Anabaptist and Mennonite History, p. 154:
References
- “distinctive”, in OED Online ?, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1896
- distinctive in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- distinctive in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
French
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /dis.t??k.tiv/
- Homophone: distinctives
Adjective
distinctive
- feminine singular of distinctif
distinctive From the web:
- what distinctive means
- what distinctive feature characterizes an estuary
- what distinctive feature of the indo-european family is that it
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