| 释义 |
▪ I. discern, v.
(dɪˈzɜːn, now usu. dɪˈsɜːn)
Also 4 disserne, 4–7 discerne, 5–6 des-, dyscerne, 6 dysserne. See also decern.
[a. F. discerner, in OF. also disserner (13th c. in Hatz.-Darm.), ad. L. discern-ĕre to separate, distinguish, determine, f. dis- 1 + cernĕre to separate. In early times sometimes confused with decern, which in OF. also appears as descerner.]
†1. trans. To separate (things, or one thing from another) as distinct; to distinguish and divide.
c1430Lydg. Min. Poems (1840) 87 (Mätz.) Pictagoras..Fonde first out .y., a figure to discerne Theyre lyff here short, and lyff that is eterne. 1533More Answ. Poysoned Bk. Wks. 1050/2 Our sauiour would not discerne & deuide fayth from the woorke, but sayth that the faith it selfe was the woorke of god. 1549Coverdale Erasm. Par. 1 John 48 It is not the sacramentes that discerne the children of God from the children of the devyll; but the puritie of lyfe, and charitie. 1614R. Tailor Hog hath lost Pearl iv. in Hazl. Dodsley XI. 481 That precious gem of reason, by which solely We are discern'd from rude and brutish beasts. 1645Ussher Body Div. 39 That so he might be discerned from all things created. For nothing is like unto God.
2. To recognize as distinct; to distinguish or separate mentally (one thing from another); to perceive the difference between (things). arch.
1483Caxton G. de la Tour H iv, By the knowyng of it they shalle..discerne the good fro the euyll. 1551T. Wilson Logike (1580) 20 b, To discerne the truthe from that whiche is false. 1579Fulke Heskins' Parl. 363 If we discern the two testaments, the promises are not the same. 1611Bible 2 Sam. xiv. 17 As an Angel of God, so is my lord the king to discerne good and bad. 1727–38Gay Fables i. x, Can he discern the different natures? 1834J. H. Newman Paroch. Serm. I. xvii. 257 Like men who have lost the faculty of discerning colours. 1837–9Hallam Hist. Lit. IV. iv. iv. §38. 172 We discern good from evil by the understanding. 1886Ruskin Præterita I. vi. 199 Not having yet the taste to discern good Gothic from bad.
3. intr. To perceive or recognize the difference or distinction; to make a distinction; to distinguish or discriminate between. arch.
13..E.E. Allit. P. C. 513 Wymmen..þat..Bitwene þe stele and þe stayre disserne noȝt cunen. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) xxii. 103 Þai..can discerne betwix gude and euill. 1535Coverdale Ezek. xxii. 26 They put no dyfference betwene the holy and vnholy, nether discerne betwene the clene and vnclene. 1651Hobbes Leviath. ii. xix. 97 One that cannot discerne between Good and Evill. 1711Addison Spect. No. 255. ⁋5 Some Men cannot discern between a noble and a mean Action. 1841Myers Cath. Th. iii. §5. 18 The spiritual mind..discerns and separates between the things which differ in excellence.
4. trans. To distinguish (one thing or fact) by the intellect; to recognize or perceive distinctly. (With simple obj., or clause expressing a proposition.)
13..Cursor M. 15066 (Gött.) Cum nu forth vr sauueour, we haue discernd [3 MSS. desired] þe, þu es right king of israel, qua sum þe soth can se. c1386Chaucer Knt.'s T. 2145 Than may men wel by this ordre discerne, That thilke moevere stabul is and eterne. 1529More Dyaloge i. Wks. 164/2 If..ye coude not make your audience to discerne the truthe. 1641Wilkins Math. Magick i. vi. (1648) 41 Hence also may wee discerne the reason why [etc.]. 1667Milton P.L. i. 326 His swift pursuers from Heav'n Gates discern Th' advantage. 1679L. Addison First State of Mahumedism 126 If we look into the condition of Christianity..at the time..we shall discern it miserably shaken and convuls'd. 1736Butler Anal. i. v. 124 We do not discern how food and sleep contribute to the growth of the body. 1850Tennyson In Mem. lxviii, I wake, and I discern the truth. 1861M. Pattison Ess. I. 33 Incapable of discerning where their true interest lay.
b. intr. or absol.
c1374Chaucer Troylus iii. Prol. 9 (Harl.) In heuene and helle and erthe and salte se Is felt þi myght If þ̶at I wol descerne. 1581Mulcaster Positions iii. 9 Which skill to discern so narrowly..is not in all. 1728Young Love Fame iv. (1757) 110 Compton, born o'er senates to preside, Deep to discern, and widely to survey.
c. intr. To have cognizance, to judge of.
a1622Bacon Hen. VII, Wks. (1860) 353 This court of Star-chamber..discerneth..of forces, frauds, crimes various of stellionate, and the inchoations..towards crimes capital..not actually committed. 1633Bp. Hall Hard Texts, N.T. 135 Is there nobody, thinkest thou, that can discerne of truth, but thou and thy followers? a1649Winthrop New Eng. (1853) I. 380 The magistrates..discerned of the offence clothed with all these circumstances.
5. trans. To distinguish (an object) with the eyes; to see or perceive by express effort of the powers of vision; to ‘make out’ by looking, descry, behold.
c1386Chaucer Knt.'s T. 1131 Wyndowe..was ther noon, Thurgh which men myghten any light discerne. 1548Hall Chron., Rich. III, 50 A bekon wt a greate lanterne..which maie be sene and discerned a great space of. 1653H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. v. 12 The smoak was..so thick, as we could hardly discern one another. 1732Berkeley Alciphr. i. §10 The best eyes are necessary to discern the minutest objects. 1842Tennyson Ld. of Burleigh 42 Till a gateway she discerns With armorial bearings stately. 1860Tyndall Glac. ii. xvii. 317 We could discern no trace of rupture [in the ice].
†b. intr. or absol. Obs. rare.
c1384Chaucer H. Fame ii. 401 (Fairf. & Bodl. MSS.) Or elles was the aire so thikke That y ne myght[e] not discerne [Caxt. that I myght it not decerne]. a1649Winthrop New Eng. (1853) II. 72 It was frozen also to sea so far as one could well discern. Ibid. II. 81 There was such a precipice as they could scarce discern to the bottom.
c. trans. To distinguish or perceive distinctly by other senses. rare.
1578Banister Hist. Man v. 71 Sundry portions of sinewes..scattered onely to discerne annoyaunce at any tyme offred. 1863Geo. Eliot Romola i. x, His ear discerned a distressed childish voice crying.
¶6. Formerly sometimes used for decern.
1494Fabyan Chron. vii. 549 We..pronounce, dyscerne and declare, the same kynge Rycharde..to be..vnable..and vnworthy to the rule and gouernaunce of the foresayd realmys. 1533Coverdale Lord's Supper Wks. (Parker Soc.) I. 449 It pertaineth not to every private person to judge and discern, who ought to be admitted. 1563Foxe A. & M. 770 b, We do..discerne, deme, and iudge the same to be committed to y⊇..custodye of such person or persons as his maiesty shall apoynte. 1596Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. I. 66 That, quhilke Ptolomie discernet to be among the hindmost Iles of Schytland.
▪ II. discern, n. rare—1.|dɪˈzɜːn|
[f. discern v.]
The act of discerning; discernment, perception.
1830W. Phillips Mt. Sinai ii. 582 Afront was stationed, facile of discern, An orb immiscible of mist profound. |