(Lat. disto, I stand apart), an interval between two things, with regard either to time or place.

Accessible Distances, in Geometry, such as may be measured by the chain. Inaccessible Distances, such as cannot be measured by the chain, on account of a river or other obstruction between one object and another.

Astronomy. The distance of the sun, planets, and comets, is found only from their parallax, as it cannot be found either by eclipses or their different phases; for, from the theory of the motions of the earth and planets, we know at any time the proportion of the distances of the sun and planets from us; and the horizontal parallaxes are in a reciprocal proportion to these distances. See Astronomy.