English
discernible
Discernible comes from Latin discernibilis, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *krey- ‘to sift, separate, divide’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*krey-‘to sift, separate, divide’root as named
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdiscernibilis
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600discernable
- Englishearliest quotation 1821discernible
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*krey-‘to sift, separate, divide’root as named
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdiscernibilis
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600discernable
- Englishearliest quotation 1821discernible
Earliest quotation: 1821, John Duncan: “To have demolished and rebuilt the walls, would have…”
Equivalent to discern + -ible
Proto-Indo-European *krey- ‘to sieve’
…
Latin cernō ‘to distinguish’
Latin discernere ‘to separate, divide, distinguish, discern’
Old French discerner
Middle English discernen
English discern
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *krey- ‘to sift, separate, divide’
secretary, secret, crime, certain, criminal, crisis, discrimination, critic, critique, discretion, hypocrite, criterion, riddle, discriminate, discrete, endocrine, discreet, excrement, excretion, incriminate, rime, incrimination, excrete, recrimination, ridder, discernment, criterium, certitude, 46 more
through Middle French discernable
Today it means
adj Possible to discern; detectable or derivable by use of the senses or the intellect.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *krey- / discernible