Discern

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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.
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              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}.
          [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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.
                                                    11.
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     2. To make cognizance. [Obs.] --Bacon.
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From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  discern
       v : detect with the senses; "The fleeing convicts were picked
           out of the darkness by the watchful prison guards"; "I
           can't make out the faces in this photograph" [syn: {recognize},
            {recognise}, {distinguish}, {pick out}, {make out}, {tell
           apart}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  78 Moby Thesaurus words for "discern":
     anticipate, appreciate, apprehend, ascertain, be acquainted with,
     be apprised of, be aware of, be cognizant of, be conscious of,
     be conversant with, be informed, behold, catch sight of,
     clap eyes on, cognize, come alive, comprehend, conceive,
     conceptualize, descry, detect, difference, differentiate, discover,
     discriminate, distinguish, divine, espy, extricate, fathom,
     foresee, glimpse, grasp, have, have in sight,
     have information about, have knowledge of, identify, ken, know,
     lay eyes on, look on, look upon, make out, note, notice, observe,
     penetrate, perceive, pick out, pick up, pierce, plumb, possess,
     prehend, realize, recognize, remark, savvy, see, see daylight,
     see into, see the light, see through, seize, sense, separate,
     sever, sight, spot, spy, take in, twig, understand, view, witness,
     wot, wot of