Discern
Contents
English
Verb
Discern (third-person singular simple present Discerns, present participle Discerning, simple past and past participle Discerned)
- (transitive) To detect with the senses, especially with the eyes.
- (transitive) To perceive, recognize, or comprehend with the mind; to descry.
- (transitive) To distinguish something as being different from something else; to differentiate.
- He was too young to discern right from wrong.
- (intransitive) To perceive differences.
Adverbs for Discern
dimly; faintly; clearly; scornfully; acutely; truthfully; shrewdly; enlightenedly; keenly; jealously; raptly; suspiciously.
Synonyms for Discern
perceive, observe, see, descry, behold, recognize, distinguish, discriminate, understand, discover, look, know, espy, detect.
Antonyms for Discern
overlook, disregard, slight, neglect.
Derived terms
Thesaurus
anticipate, appreciate, apprehend, ascertain, be acquainted with, be apprised of, be aware of, be cognizant of, be conscious of, be conversant with, be informed, behold, catch sight of, clap eyes on, cognize, come alive, comprehend, conceive, conceptualize, descry, detect, difference, differentiate, discover, discriminate, distinguish, divine, espy, extricate, fathom, foresee, glimpse, grasp, have, have in sight, have information about, have knowledge of, identify, ken, know, lay eyes on, look on, look upon, make out, note, notice, observe, penetrate, perceive, pick out, pick up, pierce, plumb, possess, prehend, realize, recognize, remark, savvy, see, see daylight, see into, see the light, see through, seize, sense, separate, sever, sight, spot, spy, take in, twig, understand, view, witness, wot, wot of
Etymology
From Middle English discernen < Old French discerner < Latin discernere (“to separate, divide, distinguish, discern”) < dis- (“apart”) + cernere (“to separate”); see certain.
Pronunciation
(modern pronunciation)
(older pronunciation)
Translations
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