English → Latin
“discern” in Latin
discernōto separate, set apart, divide, part; to distinguish between, discern; to determine, settledispiciōto look through or about; to discern or perceive; to discoverinternōscōto distinguish between; to pick out or tell apart; to discerncernōto distinguish, divide, separate, sift; to perceive, see, discern, behold; to (intellectually) comprehend, discern, regavideōto see, perceive; look (at); to observe, note; to understand, perceive, comprehend
The English word discern itself goes back to Latin cernō, through discernere.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
discern
discernere (Curt.; see an object so as to distinguish it from others; aliquid or aliquem; aliquid or aliquem ab aliquo); dispicere (PROP.; mostly neuter; figuratively, of the mind, with accusative). (The words are found in this connection and order.) discernere et dispicere: internoscere (to know an object amongst others, from which one distinguishes it). Cf.,” To discern one thing from another,” or “between one thing and another,” is either discernere, or internoscere hoc et illud, or hoc ab illo; e.g., to discern black from white, alba et atra discernere (so probanda atque improbanda; insidiatorem et petitum insidiis): to discern between panthers and pards, discernere pantheras a pardis (so id quod visum erat a falso, Cic.): His blinded intellect discerned none of these things, horum nihil dispexit caecata mens: to discern between a true and a false friend, secernere blandum amicum a vero et internoscere: to discern a deserving person from an undeserving one, internoscere dignum et indignum: ☞ discernere, internoscere, etc., may also have a dependent interrogative clause; e.g., internoscere visa vera sint ilia, an falsa (Cic.); animus discernit, quid sit ejusdem generis, quid alterius (Cic.).
See clearly, cernere: videre [SYN. in SEE]. (The words are found in this connection and order.) cernere et videre: sentire ac videre (of mental perception; accusative and infinitive).
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for discern?
- The usual Latin words for “discern” are discernō, dispiciō, internōscō; also cernō, videō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.