discernment - Definitions from Dictionary.com

4 results for: discernment

Browse Nearby Entries

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

dis·cern·ment

Audio Help [di-surn-muh

nt, -zurn-] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	the faculty of discerning; discrimination; acuteness of judgment and understanding.

2.	the act or an instance of discerning.

[Origin: 1580–90; < MF discernement, equiv. to discern(er) to discern + -ment -ment

]

—Synonyms 1. judgment, perspicacity, penetration, insight.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
discernment

To learn more about discernment visit Britannica.com

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

dis·cern·ment Audio Help (dĭ-sûrn'mənt, -zûrn'-) Pronunciation Key
n.

The act or process of exhibiting keen insight and good judgment.
Keenness of insight and judgment.

(Download Now or Buy the Book)

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

discernment
noun
1.	the cognitive condition of someone who understands; "he has virtually no understanding of social cause and effect" [syn: understanding]
2.	delicate discrimination (especially of aesthetic values); "arrogance and lack of taste contributed to his rapid success"; "to ask at that particular time was the ultimate in bad taste" [syn: taste]
3.	perception of that which is obscure
4.	the mental ability to understand and discriminate between relations [syn: sagacity]
5.	the trait of judging wisely and objectively; "a man of discernment" [syn: discretion]

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Discernment

Dis*cern"ment\, n. [Cf. F. discernement.]

1. The act of discerning.

2. The power or faculty of the mind by which it distinguishes one thing from another; power of viewing differences in objects, and their relations and tendencies; penetrative and discriminate mental vision; acuteness; sagacity; insight; as, the errors of youth often proceed from the want of discernment.

Syn: Judgment; acuteness; discrimination; penetration; sagacity; insight. -- Discernment, Penetration, Discrimination. Discernment is keenness and accuracy of mental vision; penetration is the power of seeing deeply into a subject in spite of everything that intercepts the view; discrimination is a capacity of tracing out minute distinctions and the nicest shades of thought. A discerning man is not easily misled; one of a penetrating mind sees a multitude of things which escape others; a discriminating judgment detects the slightest differences.

Browse Nearby Entries: