discern

discern
I
(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)
v. t. espy; discover, perceive, distinguish, detect, discriminate. See vision, visibility, intelligence, difference.
II
(Roget's IV) v.
1. [To see]
Syn. observe, behold, make out, perceive, notice, espy, descry, recognize, spot; see also see 1 .
2. [To detect]
Syn. discover, distinguish, differentiate, find out, determine, ascertain, judge, apprehend, discriminate; see also discover .
Syn.- discern implies a making out or recognizing of something visually or mentally [ to discern one's motives ] ; perceive implies recognition by means of any of the senses, and, with reference to mental apprehension, often implies keen understanding or insight [ to perceive a change in attitude ] ; distinguish implies perceiving clearly or distinctly by sight, hearing, etc. [ he distinguished the voices of men down the hall ] ; observe and notice both connote some measure of attentiveness, though the former may imply a more conscious act of will, and both usually suggest use of the sense of sight [ to observe an eclipse, to notice a sign ]
III
(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus) v.
perceive, detect, apprehend, sense, see, notice, ascertain, observe, make out, spot, distinguish.
ANT.: miss, overlook
IV
(Roget's Thesaurus II) verb 1. To perceive and fix the identity of, especially with difficulty: descry, distinguish, make out, pick out, spot. See SEE. 2. To perceive, especially barely or fleetingly: catch, descry, detect, espy, glimpse, spot, spy. See SEE. 3. To perceive with a special effort of the senses or the mind: descry, detect, distinguish, mark, mind, note, notice, observe, remark, see. See KNOWLEDGE, SEE. 4. To recognize as being different: differentiate, discriminate, distinguish, know, separate, tell. See SAME.

English dictionary for students. 2013.

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Synonyms:
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Look at other dictionaries:

  • 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… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Discern — Dis*cern , v. i. 1. To see or understand the difference; to make distinction; as, to discern between good and evil, truth and falsehood. [1913 Webster] More than sixscore thousand that cannot discern between their right hand their left. Jonah iv …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • discern — [di sʉrn′, dizʉrn′] vt. [ME discernen < OFr discerner < L discernere < dis , apart + cernere, to separate: see HARVEST] 1. to separate (a thing) mentally from another or others; recognize as separate or different 2. to perceive or… …   English World dictionary

  • discern — I (detect with the senses) verb appreciate, apprehend, apprehend clearly, ascertain, awake to, become acquainted with, become apprized, become aware of, become informed, behold, cast eyes on, catch sight of, cognize, command a view of, comprehend …   Law dictionary

  • discern — (v.) late 14c., from O.Fr. discerner (13c.) distinguish (between), separate (by sifting), and directly from L. discernere to separate, set apart, divide, distribute; distinguish, perceive, from dis off, away (see DIS (Cf. dis )) + cernere… …   Etymology dictionary

  • discern — perceive, descry, observe, notice, remark, note, espy, behold, *see, view, survey, contemplate Analogous words: *discover, ascertain: divine, apprehend, anticipate, *foresee: pierce, penetrate, probe (see ENTER) …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • discern — [v] catch sight of; recognize and understand anticipate, apprehend, ascertain, behold, descry, detect, determine, difference, differentiate, discover, discrepate, discriminate, distinguish, divine, espy, extricate, figure out, find out, focus,… …   New thesaurus

  • discern — ► VERB 1) recognize or find out. 2) distinguish with difficulty by sight or with the other senses. DERIVATIVES discernible adjective. ORIGIN Latin discernere, from cernere to separate …   English terms dictionary

  • discern — [[t]dɪsɜ͟ː(r)n[/t]] discerns, discerning, discerned 1) VERB If you can discern something, you are aware of it and know what it is. [FORMAL] [V n] You need a long series of data to be able to discern such a trend... [V wh] It was hard to discern… …   English dictionary

  • discern — UK [dɪˈsɜː(r)n] / US [dɪˈsɜrn] verb [transitive] Word forms discern : present tense I/you/we/they discern he/she/it discerns present participle discerning past tense discerned past participle discerned formal 1) to notice something, especially… …   English dictionary

  • discern — verb ADVERB ▪ clearly, easily, readily (esp. AmE) ▪ She could clearly discern a figure walking up to the house. ▪ barely (esp. AmE), dimly (esp. BrE), just …   Collocations dictionary

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