distanceyoudaoicibaDictYouDict[distance 词源字典]
distance: [13] Etymologically, things that are distant stand far apart from each other. The word comes via Old French from Latin distantia, an abstract noun formed from distāns, the present participle of distāre ‘be remote’. This was a compound verb formed from the prefix dis- ‘apart’ and stāre ‘stand’ (source of English state, station, statue, etc and related to English stand).
=> stand, state, station, statue[distance etymology, distance origin, 英语词源]
distance (n.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
late 13c., "quarrel, estrangement, discord, strife," from Old French destance (13c.), from Latin distantia "a standing apart," from distantem (nominative distans) "standing apart, separate, distant," present participle of distare "stand apart," from dis- "apart, off" (see dis-) + stare "to stand," from PIE root *sta- "to stand, set down, make or be firm" (see stet).

Meaning "remoteness, space between things or places" is late 14c. The figurative sense of "aloofness" is the same as in stand-offish. Phrase go the distance (1930s) seems to be originally from the prize ring, where the word meant "scheduled length of a bout."
distance (v.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
1570s (transitive); 1640s (intransitive), from distance (n.). Related: Distanced; distancing.