distinguible

Distinguible is an adjective meaning capable of being distinguished from something else. In modern English, the standard form is distinguishable; distinguishible is a rare or archaic variant that appears mainly in older texts or less common spellings.

Etymology traces to Latin distinguere, from dis- (apart) + distinguere (to separate, to set apart), with the French and English derivatives developing into forms such as distinguishable and distinguishable. Across styles, the core idea remains the same: a thing that can be recognized as different from others by some property or feature.

In mathematics and logic, distinguishable objects are those that can be told apart by at least one distinguishing property. For example, two points with different coordinates are distinguishable, while identical points are not. The concept underpins discussions of identity, equivalence relations, and classificatory procedures in algorithms and formal systems. In statistics and data analysis, distinguishability can refer to the ability to separate distributions or signals from noise based on observed features.

In everyday language, distinguishable is preferred for indicating that differences can be perceived or identified, whether by perception, measurement, or analysis. Distinguible may be encountered in older literature or as a variant, but it is generally advised to use distinguishable in contemporary writing. Related terms include discriminable, differentiable, and separable, each with slightly different technical connotations depending on the domain.