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Definition of distinguish : 1. Not set apart from others by visible marks; to make distinctive or discernible by exhibiting differences; to mark off by some characteristic.
2. To become distinguished or distinctive; to make one's self or itself discernible.
3. To constitute a difference; to make to differ.
4. To make distinctions; to perceive the difference; to exercise discrimination; - with between; as, a judge distinguishes between cases apparently similar, but differing in principle.
5. To recognize or discern by marks, signs, or characteristic quality or qualities; to know and discriminate ( anything) from other things with which it might be confounded; as, to distinguish the sound of a drum.
6. To separate by definition of terms or logical division of a subject with regard to difference; as, to distinguish sounds into high and low.
7. To separate from others by a mark of honor; to make eminent or known; to confer distinction upon; - with by or for.

Synonyms:

do it, have intercourse, fleck, have a go at it, nominate, neck, distract, let on, expose, split up, bring out, know, attain, bonk, tell, come upon, pit, find out, punctuate, blemish, do, carve up, manage, deal, chance upon, get wind, divulge, classify, demarcate, draw, part, espy, account, signalise, descry, brand, mention, be intimate, get a line, steal, divert, appropriate, take away, make out, hear, sleep together, list, get laid, accredit, assure, stigmatise, nock, name, break, purloin, place, collate, class, cross off, break up, eliminate, fill in, fall apart, exalt, fall upon, detach, screw, come across, agnise, take, fill out, divide, get it on, detect, call, hump, cite, delineate, same, happen upon, furcate, blot, disclose, have it off, mind, branch, line, order, sleep with, mark off, select, unwrap, label, light upon, grade, greet, grapple, find, ennoble, pick up, stigmatize, recount, blob, assort, characterize, set apart, bring up, strike off, remove, secern, set, fare, report, bed, complete, withdraw, come apart, make do, pock, recite, come, lie with, roll in the hay, describe, disunite, split, appoint, make, choose, refer, learn, admire, love, key out, praise, single out, cut, point out, sort out, tick off, observe, signalize, get by, sign, agnize, ramify, jazz, advert, signal, dissever, spot, denounce, evidence, specialise, constitute, fork, notice, make love, enjoin, call attention, acknowledge, knowledge, eff, check, honor, diagnose, give away, realize, trace, singularize, respect, celebrate, severalise, pick out, strike out, depict, get along, remark, severalize, see, elevate, have it away, speciate, key, check off, strike, have sex, identify, score, contend, state, commemorate, secernate, sort, sift, get word, tag, let out, cope, abstract, realise, tick, reveal, discover, recognise, scar, issue, bang, spy, say, narrate, chance on, write out, cross out, recognize, tell apart, note

discern, separate

discriminate, individualize, differentiate, define, mark, specialize, signify

specify

Usage examples:

• He could distinguish the animals much better than when they were tearing straight away from him. - "The Hunters of the Ozark", Edward S. Ellis.
• Have you not the sense to distinguish a joke from an insult? - "Le Morvan, [A District of France,] Its Wild Sports, Vineyards and Forests; with Legends, Antiquities, Rural and Local Sketches", Henri de Crignelle.
• 30. How do Priestley and others pretend to distinguish between the participial and the substantive use of verbals in ing? - "The Grammar of English Grammars", Goold Brown.