distinction

n 1: a discrimination made between things as different; "it is

necessary to make a distinction between love and

infatuation" [syn: {differentiation}]

2: high status importance owing to marked superiority; "a

scholar of great eminence" [syn: {eminence}, {preeminence},

{note}]

3: a distinguishing quality; "it has the distinction of being

the cheapest restaurant in town"

4: a distinguishing difference: "he learned the distinction

between gold and lead"

distribution

1. A software source tree packaged for

distribution; but see {kit}.

2. A vague term encompassing {mailing list}s and

{Usenet} {newsgroup}s (but not {BBS} {fora}); any

topic-oriented message channel with multiple recipients.

3. An information-space domain (usually loosely

correlated with geography) to which propagation of a {Usenet}

message is restricted; a much-underused feature.

[{Jargon File}]