Discrimination Meaning
/dɪskɹɪmɪˈneɪʃən/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounDiscernment, the act of discriminating, discerning, distinguishing, noting or perceiving differences between things, with the intent to understand rightly and make correct decisions.
nounDifferential treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage; treatment or consideration based on class or category rather than individual merit; partiality; prejudice; bigotry.
Sentence Examples
We shall continue our efforts to eradicate racial discrimination.
That week had nothing to do with discrimination.
The company has a strict policy against discrimination in the workplace.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
The law protects against ____ based on race or gender in hiring.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
We shall continue our efforts to eradicate racial ____.
Word Origin & History
Learned borrowing from Latin discrīminātiō, discrīminātiōnem, the action noun to discrīminō, discrīmināre (“distinguish”). Equivalent to discriminate + -ion. In English use from the 17th century.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Have you felt the weight of the considerations which have been presented, in order to show the importance of discrimination on the subject of revealed truth?"
— 1846, Henry Hollis, Christian Discrimination; Or, A Discourse on the Things in Religion which Differ, page 86:
"An earthquake here rolls harmless through the land, And Thou art good because the chimneys stand— There templed cities sink into the sea, And damp survivors, howling as they flee, Skip to the hills and hold a celebration In honor of Thy wise discrimination."
— 1892, Ambrose Bierce, Black Beetles in Amber:
"In place of a discrimination box a jumping apparatus was used, and apparently this required performance less foreign to the natural response repertory of the bird."
— 1950, Lyle Vincent Jones, Analysis of Visual Discrimination Learning by Pigeons, page 14:
"The 'pretraining' for the two-choice discrimination involved a discrimination between angles differing by 19° (6° versus 25°) in which the smaller angle was marked with a 2 cm Plexiglas square that the bats had previously detected in a simple one-choice discrimination."
— 1989, Karen Ann Campbell, Mechanisms of Prey-tracking in the Echolocating Bat, page 71:
"The same arguments, however, which have effectually in this State [Rhode Island] maintained the disfranchisement of naturalized citizens, may prevail in those cases in which the State Constitution makes the discrimination against colored persons, as long as those State Constitutions remain in force."
— 1865 June 17, William Beach Lawrence, “The Suffrage Question”, in National Anti-Slavery Standard, volume XXVI, number 6, New York, page 1, column 6:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The law protects against ____ based on race or gender in hiring.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
We shall continue our efforts to eradicate racial ____.