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discerned

[dih-surn, -zurn]

verb (used with object)

to perceive by the sight or some other sense or by the intellect; see, recognize, or apprehend: They discerned a sail on the horizon.

to distinguish mentally; recognize as distinct or different; discriminate: He is incapable of discerning right from wrong.

verb (used without object)

to distinguish or discriminate.

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Discerned is always a great word to know.

So is flibbertigibbet. Does it mean:

a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.

a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.

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Origin:
1300–50; Middle English (< Old French ) < Latin discernere to separate, equivalent to dis- dis-¹ + cernere to separate

Related forms

dis·cern·er, noun

pre·dis·cern, verb (used with object)

un·dis·cerned, adjective

Synonyms
1. discover, descry, espy. See notice. 2, 3. differentiate, judge.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To discerned

Example Sentences

And a longing for both personal and social salvation can be discerned in the choreography.

I've discerned four basic cultures that characterize faculty relations on any particular campus.

Several technical challenges must be overcome before individual bases can be discerned this way.

EXPAND

And a longing for both personal and social salvation can be discerned in the choreography.

I've discerned four basic cultures that characterize faculty relations on any particular campus.

Several technical challenges must be overcome before individual bases can be discerned this way.

Had he seen the whole picture, each story nicely placed back to back, he may have discerned a common problem.

Individual point sources for the dust can be discerned.

Cues that a family medicine or pediatric practice is welcoming to adolescents can be discerned well before the first visit.

Behind the scenes, a more significant trend can be discerned.

The term usually means that information about the hardware is easily discerned.

But even at schools where the committee rewarded some teachers more than others, no effect on student performance was discerned.

On this issue, there is no real change to be discerned on either side.

Knowles's group has discerned ways to measure community engagement, a critical element of a school's success.

Precise rankings between countries are not possible, but broad comparisons are, and changes over time can be discerned.

Cameras examining the ice discerned a number of blisterlike globules on one of the spacecraft struts.

More mainstream writers have also discerned crude prejudice on the secular side.

Scientists have discerned a peculiar but predictable pattern in which dreams tend to occur.

In subsequent conversations they discerned that they were polar opposites when it came to athletic pursuits.

Possibly, being a she-male entails costs that have not yet been discerned.

Two worrying common threads can be discerned in all this.

Fake crying can be discerned because infants often stop to see whether anyone is listening before resuming.

Now, signs of life can be discerned moving warily through the conceptual wreckage.

Hiatt to foster such programs that do not have an easily discerned effect on the bottom line.

The head of a man peering out from the darkened cave's lip may still be discerned.

Rose had smelt his breath and discerned only a chronic and lingering halitosis.

As the measuring techniques have improved over the years the amount of wobble that can be discerned has shrunk.

While they may not jump out, some underlying resemblances can be discerned between the two operas.

The use of this subsidy by some foreign companies was discerned from details in disclosure statements.

Rustic strains could scarcely be discerned in two fragmentary movements that had a quality of internal dialogue.

Polemical nuances, however, could be discerned in the role that women should play within the family.

But not much of what made him great can be discerned in his appointment of a.

Percival discerned a party of her friends gathered in the formal sitting room.

Rather, he discerned two vigorously competing elements within the mark's voice.

COLLAPSE

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

discern

late 14c., from O.Fr. discerner "distinguish, separate" (by sifting), from L. discernere, from dis- "off, away" + cernere "distinguish, separate, sift" (see crisis). Related: Discerned.

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Related Words

intuitionism discernible

intuition legible

Matching Quote

"An identity is questioned only when it is menaced, as when the mighty begin to fall, or when the wretched begin to rise, or when the stranger enters the gates, never, thereafter, to be a stranger.... Identity would seem to be the garment with which one covers the nakedness of the self: in which case, it is best that the garment be loose, a little like the robes of the desert, through which one's nakedness can always be felt, and, sometimes, discerned. This trust in one's nakedness is all that gives one the power to change one's robes."

-James Baldwin

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