distinctive feature

noun

, Linguistics.

1. a feature of the sound system of a language that serves as the crucial distinguishing mark between two phonemes, as the distinctive feature of voicing, which distinguishes b from p in English, or nasality, which distinguishes m from b and p.
2. any of a set of phonetic properties, as coronal, nasal, or strident, serving as a basic unit of phonological analysis by which the sounds that are significant in a language can be characterized and distinguished from one another.
3. a component or phonetic feature characterizing a phoneme.

Word History and Origins

Origin of distinctive feature¹

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

When the researchers examined the specimens’ teeth and jaws, they found distinctive features suggesting they were looking at three previously unrecognized species.

From Popular-Science

After six “generations,” or episodes of transmission, the rhythms produced by participants showed distinctive features depending on these constraints.

From Nautilus

Its distinctive feature is an extra-long back zipper that runs all the way to the base of the spine, which founder Abigail Lorick says was designed to make it easy to take the suit on and off, especially for women with wider hips.

From Outside Online

The most distinctive feature of the vaccine trials was their speed.

From MIT Technology Review

The shark’s most distinctive feature is the long curving fins that swoop out from its sides.

From Science News

Each is surrounded by a gelatinous capsule, which is its distinctive feature (Fig. 9).

From Project Gutenberg

Club life is, as might be supposed, a distinctive feature, and the Jockey Club (entrance 300) is a triumph of luxury.

From Project Gutenberg

The distinctive feature in securing permanency seems to have been the intent to secure it.

From Project Gutenberg

The abolition of existing property relations is not at all a distinctive feature of Communism.

From Project Gutenberg

Nothing was marked, the boots were odd ones and of a prehistoric age; there was no distinctive feature about any of the things.

From Project Gutenberg