Word Origin Atlas

Exact historical dictionary sense

Distance in Webster's 1913 dictionary

The 1913 record labels distance as noun. Its source-bounded etymology and selected historical definition appear below.

WEBSTER 1913noun
Distance

[F. distance, L. distantia.]

Cross-verified historical sense
The source text may be outdated. The page preserves that historical boundary.
Cross-verified 1913 record
Headworddistance
Part of speechnoun
Historical etymology[F. distance, L. distantia.]
Selected historical definitionThe space between two objects; the length of a line, especially the shortest line joining two points or things that are separate; measure of separation in place.
Signed record IDwebster1913-distance-noun-212759f84971
Source locatorCIDE.D, paragraph 10209; Gutenberg eBook 662
Edition-scoped answerNot earliest-attestation proofNot modern consensus
Independent historical textProject Gutenberg section 662Signed structural record sourceGNU GCIDE 0.54 archive
Quick answer

In Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), "distance" is labeled noun. Its etymology is recorded as: "[F. distance, L. distantia.]" The selected historical definition says: "The space between two objects; the length of a line, especially the shortest line joining two points or things that are separate; measure of separation in place."

Project Gutenberg Webster 1913 plus signed GNU GCIDE 0.54 Exact cross-verified historical record reviewed 2026-10-04

What this answer proves

One named sense in one historical dictionary edition.

The answer reports the selected headword, part of speech, etymology, definition, and source locator as transcribed in the cross-verified 1913 record.

Evidence boundaryIt does not establish the earliest attestation or a complete borrowing chain.It does not claim current scholarly consensus or a modern dictionary definition.Historical dictionary text may be obsolete, incomplete, inaccurate, or offensive by modern standards.

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Webster 1913 exact record

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