English
discernment
Discernment comes from Middle French discernement, 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 · steps between not traced
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600discernement
- Englishearliest quotation 2022discernment
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*krey-‘to sift, separate, divide’root as named · steps between not traced
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600discernement
- Englishearliest quotation 2022discernment
Earliest quotation: 2022, Devon Price, Unmasking Autism: “Unmasking requires we stop relying on neurotypical people’s acceptance…”
Formed from discern + -ment
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, certain, criminal, crime, crisis, discrimination, critic, critique, discretion, riddle, hypocrite, criterion, discriminate, discrete, discreet, endocrine, excretion, incriminate, excrement, incrimination, rime, excrete, discernible, recrimination, ridder, criterium, certitude, 46 more
Today it means
noun The act of distinguishing between things.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *krey- / discernment