Discern \Dis*cern"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Discerned; p. pr. &
vb. n. Discerning.] [F. discerner, L. discernere,
discretum; dis- + cernere to separate, distinguish. See
Certain, and cf. Discreet.]
1. To see and identify by noting a difference or differences;
to note the distinctive character of; to discriminate; to
distinguish.
[1913 Webster]
To discern such buds as are fit to produce blossoms.
--Boyle.
[1913 Webster]
A counterfeit stone which thine eye can not discern
from a right stone. --Robynson
(More's
Utopia).
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2. To see by the eye or by the understanding; to perceive and
recognize; as, to discern a difference.
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And [I] beheld among the simple ones, I discerned
among the youths, a young man void of understanding.
--Prov. vii.
7.
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Our unassisted sight . . . is not acute enough to
discern the minute texture of visible objects.
--Beattie.
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I wake, and I discern the truth. --Tennyson.
Syn: To perceive; distinguish; discover; penetrate;
discriminate; espy; descry; detect. See Perceive.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Discerning \Dis*cern"ing\, a.
Acute; shrewd; sagacious; sharp-sighted. --Macaulay.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
discerning
adj 1: having or revealing keen insight and good judgment; "a
discerning critic"; "a discerning reader" [ant: undiscerning]
2: unobtrusively perceptive and sympathetic; "a discerning
editor"; "a discreet silence" [syn: discreet]
3: quick to understand; "a kind and apprehensive friend"-
Nathaniel Hawthorne [syn: apprehensive]
4: able to make or detect effects of great subtlety; sensitive;
"discerning taste"; "a discerning eye for color"
WordNet (r) 2.0
31 Moby Thesaurus words for "discerning":
acute, apperceptive, appercipient, argute, astute, cogent,
farseeing, farsighted, foreseeing, foresighted, forethoughted,
forethoughtful, gnostic, incisive, insightful, judicious, knowing,
knowledgeable, longheaded, longsighted, penetrating, perceptive,
percipient, perspicacious, perspicuous, piercing, provident,
sagacious, sage, trenchant, understanding
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
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