distance

UK/ˈdɪst(ə)n(t)s/US/ˈdɪst(ə)n(t)s/

nounA23 meanings Very common — you will meet it every day · #1,246 of 15,258neutral

Other forms: distances, distancing, distanced

Distance is how far apart two places are. The number of miles, or the gap you can see across.

It works as a measurement and as a place at once, since something in the distance is simply far off. Sport uses it for the length of a race, and going the distance means lasting to the end of a fight. There is an emotional sense too, and keeping your distance means staying away, while a distant manner is a cool one. As a verb, to distance yourself from something is to make clear you had no part in it.

Definitions of distance

1noundistanceThe amount of space between two points.A2~96%
“The distance between the two villages is four miles.”
2nounfarawayA faraway point that can be seen.B1~2%
“Smoke rose in the distance.”
3verbseparateTo separate yourself from something publicly.C1~2%
“The party distanced itself from his remarks.”

Shares are an estimate: a language model read 15 sentences found in the wild and placed 15 of them on a sense — a count of our sample, not a measurement of English.

Phrases it lives in

go the distance — keep going to the very end

Where it comes from

Distance is standing apart: Latin distō, from stō, to stand. In Middle English it could still mean a quarrel, so people at a distance were people at odds.

Proto-Indo-European
*dews-
Proto-Indo-European
*steh₂- — to stand (up)
Latin
distantia — difference, diversity; distance, remoteness; space between two points
Old French
destance
Middle French
distance
Anglo-Norman
distance
Middle English
distance
English, today
distance

Built from

destance · Middle English — disagreement, dispute; discrimination; armed conflict; hostility; trouble; space between two points; time interval
distaunce · Old French — debate; difference, distinction; discord, quarrel; dispute; space between two points; time interval
distāns · Latin — being distant; standing apart
distō · Latin — to be distant; to stand apart; to differ

From Middle English distance, distaunce, destance (“disagreement, dispute; discrimination; armed conflict; hostility; trouble; space between two points; time interval”), from Anglo-Norman distance, distaunce, destance, Middle French distance, and Old French destance, destaunce, distaunce (“debate; difference, distinction; discord, quarrel; dispute; space between two points; time interval”) (modern French distance), and directly from their etymon Latin distantia (“difference, diversity; distance, remoteness; space between two points”) (whence also Latin distantia (“disagreement; discrepancy; gap, opening; time interval”)), from distāns (“being distant; standing apart”) + -ia. Distāns is the present active participle of distō (“to be distant; to stand apart; to differ”), from dis- + stō (“to stand”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European steh₂- (“to stand (up)”)). The verb is derived from the noun. 2

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Travel & Transport, A Man Called Ove

First appears in chapter 4 of A Man Called Ove.

Practise this word

distance in the wild

The distance is also included in the World Athletics Championships, which began in 1983.
Marathon
In mathematics, the Euclidean distance between two points in a Euclidean space is the length of the line segment between them.
Euclidean distance
The distance between two objects that are not points is usually defined to be the smallest distance among pairs of points from the two objects.
Euclidean distance
The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle-distance event.
Middle-distance running
Long-distance running as a form of tradition or ceremony is known among the Hopi and Tarahumara people, among others.
Long-distance running

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the distāns family

distance distant

distance — used about once every 130 pages · #1,246 · point at the bar for the others

distance learning

Definitions of distance

1noundistanceThe amount of space between two points.A2~96%

“The distance between the two villages is four miles.”

2nounfarawayA faraway point that can be seen.B1~2%

“Smoke rose in the distance.”

3verbseparateTo separate yourself from something publicly.C1~2%

“The party distanced itself from his remarks.”

Shares are an estimate: a language model read 15 sentences found in the wild and placed 15 of them on a sense — a count of our sample, not a measurement of English.