English
discrete
Discrete comes from Old French discret ‘different’, from Latin discernō ‘divide’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *krey- ‘to sieve’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*krey-‘to sieve’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*krinō‘to sift, separate’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcernō‘sift’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdiscernō‘divide’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdiscrētus‘differentiated’past participle of discernō
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400discret‘different’
- Englishearliest quotation a. 1856discrete
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*krey-‘to sieve’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*krinō‘to sift, separate’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcernō‘sift’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdiscernō‘divide’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdiscrētus‘differentiated’past participle of discernō
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400discret‘different’
- Englishearliest quotation a. 1856discrete
Earliest quotation: a. 1856, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Ode, Inscribed to W. H. Channing: “There are two laws discrete, / Not reconciled,— /…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *krey- ‘to sieve’
certain, crime, criminal, secret, crisis, critic, critique, riddle, criterion, hypocrite, endocrine, discernible, rime, discernment, incriminate, incrimination, ridder, certitude, recrimination, criterium, excrete, 47 more
through Latin cernō ‘sift’
secretary, discern, secretion, excrement, excretion, secrete, 11 more
Today it means
adj Separate; distinct; individual; non-continuous.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *krey- / discrete