Discern Meaning
/dɪˈsɜːn/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbTo detect with the senses, especially with the eyes.
verbTo perceive, recognize, or comprehend with the mind; to descry.
Sentence Examples
It is hard to discern between the true and the false.
He can't discern fact from fiction.
CEFR Practice Quiz
It is hard to ____ the true meaning of his statement.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
It is hard to ____ between the true and the false.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English discernen, from Old French discerner, from Latin discernere (“to separate, divide, distinguish, discern”), from dis- (“apart”) + cernere (“to distinguish”); see certain.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Meanwhile the brig had altered her tack, and was moving slowly to the east. Three hours later and the keenest eye could not have discerned her top-sails above the horizon."
— 1875, Jules Verne you are no HELP!, chapter 1, in The Survivors of the Chancellor, archived from the original on 12 Apr 2012:
"If they discern any evidences of wrong-going in any direction that I have indicated, they will acknowledge that I had reason in what I wrote. If they discern no such thing, they will consider me altogether mistaken."
— 1842, Charles Dickens, American Notes for General Circulation, archived from the original on 19 May 2011:
"General reading readiness is assessed by tests and is also estimated by teachers who are often skillful at discerning just when a pupil is ready to learn to read. The important thing to remember is that jumping the gun is usually self-defeating."
— 1972, Mortimer J. Adler, Charles Van Doren, How to Read a Book, →ISBN, →LCCN, page 24:
"The severity of judgement, they say, makes men censorious and unapt to pardon the errors and infirmities of other men: and on the other side, celerity of fancy makes the thoughts less steady than is necessary to discern exactly between right and wrong."
— 1651, Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, archived from the original on 07 Jun 2011:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
It is hard to ____ the true meaning of his statement.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
It is hard to ____ between the true and the false.