1. Present participle and gerund of distinguish

distinguishing

1. That serves to distinguish.
   • 2022, American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language:

     The distinguishing feature of an acronym is that it is pronounced as if it were a single word, in the manner of NATO and NASA.

• French: distinctif
• German: unterscheidend

distinguishing (plural distinguishings)

1. The act by which something is distinguished or told apart.
   • 2012, R. R. Cox, Schutz’s Theory of Relevance: A Phenomenological Critique, page 49:

     There are not only these identifyings going on, but also there are distinguishings. For just as in the example above there are identifications of the various extents, there are distinguishings of these extents.