Nominal Forms
Infinitive: to distance
Participle: distanced
Gerund: distancing
Cognates
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Indicative
Present
| I | distance |
| you | distance |
| he;she;it | distances |
| we | distance |
| you | distance |
| they | distance |
Perfect
| I | have distanced |
| you | have distanced |
| he;she;it | has distanced |
| we | have distanced |
| you | have distanced |
| they | have distanced |
Past
| I | distanced |
| you | distanced |
| he;she;it | distanced |
| we | distanced |
| you | distanced |
| they | distanced |
Pluperfect
| I | had distanced |
| you | had distanced |
| he;she;it | had distanced |
| we | had distanced |
| you | had distanced |
| they | had distanced |
Future
| I | will distance |
| you | will distance |
| he;she;it | will distance |
| we | will distance |
| you | will distance |
| they | will distance |
Future Perfect
| I | will have distanced |
| you | will have distanced |
| he;she;it | will have distanced |
| we | will have distanced |
| you | will have distanced |
| they | will have distanced |
Subjunctive
Present
| I | distance |
| you | distance |
| he;she;it | distance |
| we | distance |
| you | distance |
| they | distance |
Perfect
| I | have distanced |
| you | have distanced |
| he;she;it | have distanced |
| we | have distanced |
| you | have distanced |
| they | have distanced |
Imperfect
| I | distanced |
| you | distanced |
| he;she;it | distanced |
| we | distanced |
| you | distanced |
| they | distanced |
Pluperfect
| I | had distanced |
| you | had distanced |
| he;she;it | had distanced |
| we | had distanced |
| you | had distanced |
| they | had distanced |
Conditional
Present
| I | would distance |
| you | would distance |
| he;she;it | would distance |
| we | would distance |
| you | would distance |
| they | would distance |
Perfect
| I | would have distanced |
| you | would have distanced |
| he;she;it | would have distanced |
| we | would have distanced |
| you | would have distanced |
| they | would have distanced |
Imperative
| you | distance |
| we | Let's distance |
| you | distance |
Verbs conjugated like 'distance'
abacinate,
abalienate,
abase,
abate,
abbreviate,
abdicate,
abduce,
aberrate,
aberuncate,
abirritate,
abjudge,
abjudicate,
abjugate,
abjure,
ablactate,
ablaqueate,
able,
ablegate,
abligate,
abnegate, etc. (List truncated at 20 verbs)
Verbs similar to 'distance'
disfancy,
dispace,
dispence,
disrange,
distaste,
distinct,
distune,
instance,
stance,
askance,
Synonyms & Antonyms
Additional Information
Phrasal Verbs
Etymology
1. c.1290, from O.Fr. destance, from L. distantia "a standing apart," from distantem (nom. distans) "standing apart, separate, distant," prp. of distare "stand apart," from dis- "apart, off" + stare "to stand" (see stet). The figurative sense is the same as in stand-offish. Phrase go the distance (1930s) seems to be originally from boxing.
2. 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 Late Latin distantia (“disagreement; discrepancy; gap, opening; time interval”)), from distāns (“being distant; standing apart”) + -ia (suffix forming feminine abstract nouns). Distāns is the present active participle of distō (“to be distant; to stand apart; to differ”), from dis- (prefix meaning ‘apart, asunder; in two’) + stō (“to stand”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand (up)”)).
3. The verb is derived from the noun.
4. Cognates
5. * Middle Dutch distancie, distantie (modern Dutch distantie); Dutch afstand (“distance”, literally “off-stand, off-stance”)
6. * German Distanz; German Abstand
7. * Italian distanza
8. * Portuguese distância
9. * Spanish distancia
Sample Sentences
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If therefore the Interpoſition of Gloceſterſhire diſtanceth VVorceſterſhire from confining on the VVeſt-Saxons, the Animadvertor ought to have vented his diſpleaſure not on Me, but on Bede, and [Henry of] Huntington, vvhoſe vvords I exactly tranſlated. [1659, Thomas Fuller, “The Second Book. Of the Conversion of the Saxons, and that which Followed thereupon till the Norman Conquest.”, in The Appeal of Iniured Innocence: Unto the Religious Learned and Ingenious Reader: In a Controversie betwixt the Animadvertor Dr. Peter Heylyn and the Author Thomas Fuller, London: […] W. Godbid, and are to be sold by John Williams […], →OCLC, part II, page 6:]
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The faireſt [oxen] in England are bred (or if you vvill, made) in this County, vvith goodly heads, the Tips of vvhoſe horns are ſometimes diſtanced five foot aſunder. [a. 1662 (date written), Thomas Fuller, “Lancashire”, in The History of the Worthies of England, London: […] J[ohn] G[rismond,] W[illiam] L[eybourne] and W[illiam] G[odbid], published 1662, →OCLC, page 106:]
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It [an insight] distances those who share it, from those who share it not. [1860, R[alph] W[aldo] Emerson, “Essay I. Fate.”, in The Conduct of Life, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, →OCLC, page 22:]
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That vvhich gives the Relievo to a Bovvl, (may ſome ſay to me) is the quick Light, or the vvhite, vvhich appears to be on the ſide, vvhich is neareſt to us, and the black by conſequence diſtances the Object: […] [1695, [Roger de Piles], “Observations on the Art of Painting of Charles Alphonse du Fresnoy”, in C[harles] A[lphonse] du Fresnoy, translated by John Dryden, De Arte Graphica. The Art of Painting, […], London: […] J[ohn] Heptinstall for W. Rogers, […], →OCLC, page 170:]
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Below you, where the valley widens greenly toward other mountains, which the ripe Italian air distances with a bloom like that on unplucked grapes, are more arches, ossified arteries of what was once the heart of the world. [1854 April, James Russell Lowell, “Leaves from My Journal in Italy and Elsewhere. Italy.”, in Fireside Travels, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, published 1864, →OCLC, page 191:]
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Our fleeter steeds have distanced our attendants; / They lag behind us with a slower pace; / We will await them under the green pendants / Of the great willows in this shady place. [1851, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Golden Legend, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLC, page 238:]
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He heard only here and there the ecstatic burst of a mocking-bird's wonderful roulades. Then the horse, with muscles as strong as steel, distanced the sound. [1891, Charles Egbert Craddock [pseudonym; Mary Noailles Murfree], chapter V, in In the “Stranger People’s” Country […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC, page 120:]
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He distanced himself from the comments made by some of his colleagues.
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[S]ince the Church hath, and ought to have a Government, it muſt not only be inoffenſive, but moſt proper, to call it an Hierarchy, or holy Government; […] Beſides, [John] Calvin admitting of ſacrum regimen [holy government], over nicely diſtanceth himſelf from thoſe vvho call it Hierarchy, for he ſaith the ſame in Latin, vvhich they do in Greek; […] [1662, Daniel Burston, ΈΥΑΓΓΕΛΙΣΤΗΣ ἐτι ΈΥΑΓΓΕΛΙΖΟΜΕΝΟΣ [ÉUAGGELISTES eti ÉUAGGELIZOMENOS] or, The Evangelist yet Evangelizing. […], Dublin: […] John Crook, […], and are to be sold by Samuel Dancer, […], →OCLC, page 41:]
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[H]e'd built his life around an independence he'd cultivated as far back as he could remember. Distancing himself from his own family and the heavy legacy of his birth. Distancing himself from painful memories. Distancing himself from emotional entanglements or investment, which could only lead to unbearable heartbreak. [2017, Abby Green, “Prologue”, in A Christmas Bride for the King, London: Mills & Boon, →ISBN, page 7:]
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But Gisby distances himself from calling TPE an inter-city operator. [2023 November 1, Philip Haigh, “TPE Must Choose the Right Route to a Brighter Future”, in Rail, number 995, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 57:]
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[H]e is of Opinion it is inhuman, that Animals ſhould be put upon their utmoſt Strength and Metal for our Diverſion only. Hovvever, not to be particular, he puts in for the Queen's Plate every Year, vvith Orders to his Rider never to vvin or be diſtanced; […] [1713 March 29 (Gregorian calendar), [Richard Steele], “Wednesday, March 18. 1713.”, in The Guardian, number 6, London: […] J[acob] Tonson […]; and sold by A. Baldwin […], →OCLC, page [2], column 1:]
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The ſunne and all the ſtarres that do appear / She [Psyche] feels them in herſelf, can diſtance all, / For ſhe is at each one purely preſentiall. [1642, H[enry] M[ore], “ΨΥΧΑΘΑΝΑΣΙΑ [Psychathanasia] Platonica: Or A Platonicall Poem of the Immortality of Souls, Especially Mans Soul”, in ΨΥΧΩΔΙΑ [Psychōdia] Platonica: Or A Platonicall Song of the Soul, […], Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Roger Daniel, printer to the Universitie, →OCLC, book 3, canto 1, stanza 21, page 61:]
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[W]e heard the joyous voices sound louder and freer as they distanced the solemn precincts, scattering frolic and music through the town as they separated to their different homes. [1873, [Elizabeth Charles], chapter VII, in Against the Stream: The Story of an Heroic Age in England […], volume I, London: Strahan & Co. […], →OCLC, page 139:]
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THe Hebrevvs diſtanced their places by ſeverall meaſures, ſome arbitrary, caſuall, and uncertain; others certain, as reduced to a conſtant ſtandard. Of the former vvas their meaſuring of land by paces, for vve read, vvhen David ſolemnly brought the Ark into Jeruſalem, vvhen he had gone ſix paces he offered oxen and fatlings. [1650, Thomas Fuller, “[The Generall Description of Judea] How the Hebrews Measured Places. Of Their Cubits, Furlongs, Miles and Sabbath-days-journeys.”, in A Pisgah-sight of Palestine and the Confines thereof, with the History of the Old and New Testament Acted thereon, London: […] J. F. for John Williams […], →OCLC, book I, paragraph 1, page 40:]
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In the deſign of a Colonnade, or ſingle Columns, the Inter-columns are tvvo diameters, as in the Portico of St. Maria Rotunda at Rome; and this manner of diſtancing the Columns is, by Vitruvius, call'd Syſtylos. [1715, Giacomo Leoni, “Of the Corinthian Order”, in Nicholas Du Bois, transl., The Architecture of A[ndrea] Palladio; […], London: […] John Watts, for the author, →OCLC, page 30:]
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When a family member goes outside of the family to deal with a problem, he or she distances from the family. The family therapist offers the family the opportunity to deal with problems in a way that will allow them to deepen their connections with each other. The therapist will not be able to accomplish this goal if various family members go outside the family to resolve their problems. [1992, David S. Freeman, “The Major Systems Involved in the Family Therapy Process”, in Multigenerational Family Therapy, Binghamton, N.Y.; London: The Haworth Press, →ISBN, page 66:]
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Also, due to irritability, tension, startle reactions, and feelings of no future love and enjoyment, the partners distance one from another and stop doing things together. […] The therapeutic relationship with PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder] patients is very difficult at the beginning of the therapy as these patients will not allow the therapist "to come close to them"—for the same reason as they distance from their family members and partners (the therapist cannot understand them as she/he has not experienced the same thing they did and they are not good enough to be helped; they believe they destroy every person they come into contact with). [2021, Goran Arbanas, “Anxiety and Somatoform Disorders”, in Michal Lew-Starowicz, Annamaria Giraldi, Tillman H. C. Krüger, editors, Psychiatry and Sexual Medicine: A Comprehensive Guide for Clinical Practitioners, Cham, Zug, Switzerland: Springer Nature, →DOI, →ISBN, page 272:]