discrīmen

Meaning

1. distinction, difference, discrimination
   Discrīmen rūrsum sēparātiō, ā discernendō, […] Lūcīlius lib. XXIX: et amābat omnēs; nam ut discrīmen nōn facit, neque sīgnat līnea alba Discrīmen, again, means “distinction”, from distinguishing. […] Lucilius in book XXIX:“and he loved everybody; for just as a white line makes no distinction or sign―”4th C. CE, Nonius Marcellus, De Compendiosa Doctrina, book 4, in Bibliotheca Teubneriana, W. M. Lindsay (editor), Leipzig 1904, volume II, page 35, lines 29–30
   Nōn enim idem oppidum et Rōma, cum oppidum sit vocābulum, Rōma nōmen, quōrum discrīmen in hīs reddendīs ratiōnibus aliī discernunt, aliī nōn.For “city” and “Rome” are not the same, since “city” is a word, “Rome” a name, which distinction some observe when teaching these principles, and some not.45 BCE – 43 BCE, Marcus Terentius Varro, De Lingua Latina 10.20(19) in Bibliotheca Teubneriana, Georg Goetz and Friederic Schell (editors), Leipzig 1910, page 178, lines 7–9
2. Late Latinfigurativelyrarediscord, controversy, quarrel
   Vulnerārī, vexārī, bella inter sē gerere furiālium memorantur ardōre discrīminum.They are said to get wounded, to be tormented, to wage war amongst themselves in the heat of their raging quarrels.4th century–c. 330 CE, Arnobius, Adversus nationes 4.33.7
3. division, separation
   Unde sed hoc nōbīs, minimum quōs inter et hostemBut whence should this come to me, between whom and the enemy a wall and a closed gate make a very small separation?12 CE – 13 CE, Ovid, Epistulae ex Ponto 1.38.61–62
   Fīnibus est Asiae latus artum lingua supernīs, Caspia quam mediam faciunt atque aequora pontī Euxīnī: locus hic discrīmen dīcitur esseThe northern limits of Asia Minor have a narrow flank, a tongue, which the Caspian Sea and the waters of the Black Sea create in the middle: this place is said to be the separation of Europe and Asia, distinguising the country from the fields.5th C. CE, Priscian (translator), Periegesis 29–33, original author: Dionysius Periegetes, in Poetae Latini Minores (volume V), Emil Baehrens (editor), Bibliotheca Teubneriana, Leipzig 1879, page 276
4. parting (of hair)
   Conpositum discrīmen erit, discrīmina laudā.Should the parting be arranged, praise the parting.2 CE, Ovidius, Ars Amatoria 2.303
5. rarehairpin, bodkin that parts the hair
   Discrīminat id est dīvidit: unde et discrīmen capitis muliēbris dīcitur, ex eō quod caput aurō discernat.4th–5th C. CE, Servius Honoratus, Commentary on the Aeneid 11.144
6. decision, judgement
   Nōn est enim cōnsilium in volgō, nōn ratiō, non discrīmen, non dīligentia, semperque sapientēs ea quae populus fēcisset ferenda, nōn semper laudanda dīxerunt.For there is no counsel in the masses, no reason, no judgement, no diligence, and the wise have always called tolerable what the people have done, not always to be praised.54 BCE, Cicero, Pro Plancio 4.9
   1st C. CE, Quintus Curtius Rufus, Histories of Alexander the Great 4.9.23The charge of recklessness, by which he thrived greatly, could be eased, because there never came to judgement whether he had acted recklessly.
7. crisis, hazard, danger, risk
   Hic diffīsus suae atque omnium salūtī inermis ex tabernāculō prōdit: videt imminēre hostēs atque in summō esse rem discrīmine: capit arma ā proximīs atque in portā cōnsistit.He, doubting his own safety and everyone else’s, exits the tent unarmed: he sees that the enemy is close and the entire situation is in greatest crisis, and takes up arms from his nearest and guards the gate.c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de bello Gallico 6.38.2
   Ī nunc et iuvenis speciē laetāre tuī, quemGo now and rejoice in the looks of your boy, whom greater dangers await.c. 100 CE – c. 130 CE, Juvenalis, Saturae 10.310–311

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms

Declension

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

in ipso periculi discrimine

at the critical moment.

in vitae discrimine versari

to be in peril of one's life.

res in summo discrimine versatur

the position is very critical.

in ipso discrimine (articulo) temporis

just at the critical moment.

res est in periculo, in summo discrimine

the position is critical.

in periculum capitis, in discrimen vitae se inferre

to recklessly hazard one's life.

salutem, vitam suam in discrimen offerre (not exponere)

to risk one's life.

aliquem, aliquid in periculum (discrimen) adducere, vocare

to endanger, imperil a person or thing.

Origins

1. Proto-Indo-European*dwóh₁
2. Latindiscrīmen

Proto-Indo-European *trísinflu. Proto-Indo-European *d(w)is- Proto-Italic *dis- Latin dis- Proto-Indo-European *krey-der. Proto-Italic *krinō Latin cernō Latin discernō Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥ Proto-Italic *-mn̥ Latin -men Latin discrimen From discernō (“to set apart, differentiate, decide”) + -men (noun-forming suffix). First attested (indirectly) in the fragments of satirist Lucilius’s (2nd century BCE) work.

In English words that came into English from discrīmen

• discriminatediscrīminātus
• discriminationdiscriminatio
• discrimendiscrīmen

Related words