discern

CEFRC1

/dɪˈsɜːn/

verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    verb

    To notice or understand something that is not obvious.

  2. 02

    verb

    Extra detail

    To distinguish something as being different from something else; to differentiate or discriminate.

Examples

  • It is hard to discern between the true and the false.

  • He can't discern fact from fiction.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
4
Synonyms
5

Also pronounced

  • /dɪˈzɜːn/

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meanings

  1. To perceive, recognize, or comprehend with the mind; to descry.

  2. To detect with the senses, especially with the eyes.

  3. To perceive differences.

More examples

In context

  • He was too young to discern right from wrong.

  • 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.

  • 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.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

It is hard to blank the true meaning of his statement.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

verb

From Middle English discernen, from Old French discerner, from Latin discernere (“to separate, divide, distinguish, discern”), from dis- (“apart”) + cernere (“to distinguish”); see certain.