Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To perceive with the eyes or intellect; detect.
- v. To recognize or comprehend mentally.
- v. To perceive or recognize as being different or distinct; distinguish. See Synonyms at see1.
- v. To perceive differences.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To distinguish; perceive the difference between(two or more things); discriminate.
- To indicate or constitute the difference between; show the distinction between.
- To see distinctly; separate mentally from the general mass of objects occupying the field of vision; perceive by the eye; descry.
- To discover by the intellect; gain knowledge of; become aware of; distinguish.
- Synonyms and To perceive, recognize, mark, note, espy, descry.
- To perceive a difference or distinction; make or establish a distinction; discriminate: as, to discern between truth and falsehood.
- To see; penetrate by the eye.
- To have judicial cognizance: with of.
Wiktionary
- v. transitive To detect with the senses, especially with the eyes.
- v. transitive To perceive, recognize, or comprehend with the mind; to descry.
- v. transitive To distinguish something as being different from something else; to differentiate.
- v. intransitive To perceive differences.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To see and identify by noting a difference or differences; to note the distinctive character of; to discriminate; to distinguish.
- v. To see by the eye or by the understanding; to perceive and recognize.
- v. To see or understand the difference; to make distinction.
- v. obsolete To make cognizance.
WordNet 3.0
- v. detect with the senses
Etymologies
- From Middle English discernen, from Old French discerner, from Latin discernere ("to separate, divide, distinguish, discern"), from dis- ("apart") + cernere ("to separate"); see certain. (Wiktionary)
- Middle English discernen, from Old French discerner, from Latin discernere, to separate : dis-, apart; see dis- + cernere, to perceive; see krei- in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“So that the pattern we are invited to discern is one of indifference and incompetence, perhaps, but certainly not racism?”
“I still managed to graduate in the top third of my class at UVA, which, although UVA has a strict policy of not publishing class rankings, I was able to discern from a slight knowledge of statistics and knowing that we were adhering to a B-mean rule in assigning grades.”
“What you were perhaps unable so far to discern from the photographs (which would be exactly the effect desired by Dientzenhofer) is the circumstance that the altar painting which you can see (showing the martyrium of St. Dionysius by the Bamberg court painter Sebastian Reinhard from 1714) is not actually on the high altar.”
“But one of the few patterns I can actually discern is that during the hours when I tweet the book or website's URL, sales go up.”
“The environmental extremes that the army encounters (freezing cold vs. baking heat) reflects the dual nature of the soldiers themselves; as you can discern from the following passage:”
“As you can clearly discern from the look on my face, I was seeking a restroom.”
“At least the uniforms form enterpise you can discern from a regualr dude to the captain, and heck those jumpsuits had pockets too, and zippers!”
EXTRALIFE – By Scott Johnson - There aint nothing wrong with Enterprise
“One truth that God allowed me to discern is that judging a group of people as wicked and evil because of their sexual orientation - and deeming them as unworthy of my association and unworthy of a relationship with God - was wrong.”
“Also, as you can discern from the top photo, there are two tables, each of which seat 2 or 3 comfortably.”
“Known officially as "Truck, Mine Protected Vehicle" (MPV), as readers will discern from the picture, this is based on the chassis of an articulated truck.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘discern’.
-
1100
abound, technology, branch of knowled..., prognosticate, automaton, matron, an older married ..., realm, special field of ..., kingdom, annals, historical records and 981 more...
-
@vcb.etym.prjct - SAT WORD DUMP - as ...
The words on this list SAT regulars that I haven't sorted and grouped yet. It's like my wordy holding pen. get it? holding the pen to write a word? HA! I love how lame my humor is.
iconoclast, glacial, agnostic, histrionic, treacly, contemptuous, captious, bombastic, bombast, perfidy, quiescence, sordid and 148 more...
-
Words related to knowledge
Words that relate to learning, knowing, being enlightened...
revelation, eureka, awakening, idea, sapient, astute, canny, intelligent, wise, sharp, shrewd, informed and 467 more...
-
2nd part
prelude, ample, escalate, prototype, accession, acquisition, archives, zealot, indict, verdict, intimidating, timid and 454 more...
-
RELI - Genesis
Protagonists and relevant words in the Book of Creation (Source: King James Bible)
wrath, leaf, belly, prey, death, break, six, nod, dim, end, inn, judge and 1286 more...
-
GRE 2014
abase, abate, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abjure, abortive, abound, abrasive, abreast, abridge and 1577 more...
-
(1st_wk_150)-Dec_5_2012
replete, steeped, eminent, indiscriminate, voracious, automaton, prognosticate, technology, abound, matron, tinge, compound and 297 more...
-
EN - high brow
abrogate, abstemious, abstract of law, alderman, apocryphal, apostasy, apoplexy, apotheosis, apposite, aver, decorous, apprehensive and 51 more...
-
GRE 1100
drudgery, implore, hapless, nuance, wrest, incipient, inadvertent, tremulous, bristle, euphemism, disdain, pugnacious and 346 more...
-
gre
divest, elixir, onerous, disabuse, discern, sordid, erudition, broach, beguile, apologia, elusive, capacious and 7 more...
-
gre2
aberrant, aberration, aboveboard, abrasive, abstemious, acme, admonish, affable, affluent, alacrity, allegory, alleviate and 1861 more...
-
ASTUTE
This lists the words associated with ASTUTE
-
1100 words you need to know
GRE words
voracious, indiscriminate, eminent, steeped, replete, abound, technology, prognosticate, automaton, matron, paradox, realm and 288 more...
-
Latin Spelling Bee List
need to know these words!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
inane, ambivalent, incriminate, interrupt, amicable, meticulous, animosity, curriculum, electoral, transect, condolences, bugle and 132 more...
-
To Understand
Verbs meaning to understand
-
Words I Know
List of most of the words I've learned
garner, abase, abate, abdicate, abduct, aberration, abet, abhor, abide, abject, abjure, abnegation and 1046 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for discern.
Kristianto2010 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to DISCERN what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ... Philippians 1:9-10
Feb 17, 2011