discreteadj.n.

Brit.

/dᵻˈskriːt/, U.S.

/dᵻˈskrit/

Forms:

α. Middle English dyscrete, Middle English– discrete, 1500s descrete; also Scottish pre-1700 discrait.

β. 1500s–1600s discreete, 1500s–1700s (1800s– non-standard) discreet.

Origin: A borrowing from Latin. Etymon: Latin discrētus.

Etymology: < classical Latin discrētus separate, distinct, in post-classical Latin also specifically in music (1630 in the passage translated in quot. 1664 at sense A. 1b), use as adjective of past participle of discernere discern v. Compare Middle French, French discret (feminine discrète , †discrete ) different, distinct (early 14th cent.), (in mathematics) discontinuous, composed of distinct units (2nd half of the 14th cent. in quantité discrete ). Compare discretion n. III. Compare also earlier discreet adj. and see discussion at that entry. Parallels in Romance languages. Compare Catalan discret composed of separate parts, discontinuous (end of the 15th cent.), Spanish discreto discontinuous (1492 in cantidad discreta discrete quantity, or earlier), Portuguese discreto individually distinct, discontinuous, Italian discreto distinct, separate (late 15th cent.), discontinuous (mid 16th cent.), (of music) consisting of tones separated by fixed intervals of pitch (2nd half of the 16th cent.), all attested earlier in senses listed at discreet adj. Spelling history. This word was used a number of times by Trevisa (translating classical Latin discrētus ) in the text cited in quot. a1398 at sense A. 1aα. , but appears not to have been used more widely until the late 16th cent. Although the α. forms in -ete have predominated throughout the history of the word, β. forms in -eet , -eete are also attested in the early modern period. The etymological doublet discreet adj. appears in a similar range of spellings in this period, and it is possible that the two words may have been perceived as a single, polysemous word, although they show considerable semantic divergence. The emergence of discrete as the accepted spelling of the present word (more closely reflecting the form of its classical Latin etymon) is shown in dictionaries from the 18th cent. onwards, and probably reflects an attempt to differentiate the two words in writing. Instances of the spelling discreet are still occasionally found for this word in present-day use. They are usually regarded as errors for discreet.

A. adj.

a. Separate; detached from others; individually distinct. Opposed to continuous.There was apparently no continuity between the use by Trevisa and later use (compare discussion in etymology section).In quot. 1594 at α. applied to an arc that does not begin at the usual point on the ecliptic.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > [adjective] > separate or separated

sunderedc1230

ysondredc1380

discretea1398

divisec1420

dissevered1471

separate?a1475

separated1535

semoted1542

dissociate1548

dirempt1580

dissundered1580

severed1581

parted1595

dividual1598

twain1600

sejunct1602

disassociated1611

dissociated1611

dividenta1616

entire to itselfa1618

interstinct1623

disjected1647

segregant1647

severized1649

divided1658

separate1667

secrete1678

disaffiliated1839

dirempted1900

α.

a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xix. cxvi. 1355 [The number] oon is bigynnyng of all þinge þat is continual and discrete.

1570 J. Dee in H. Billingsley tr. Euclid Elements Geom. Math. Præf. sig. aij Of distinct and discrete Vnits.

1594 T. Blundeville Exercises iii. i. xxxi. f. 162 Of which Arkes some are called continuall, and some descrete or deuided... That Arke is called discrete or broken, which doth not take his beginning from the first point of Aries.

a1638 J. Mede Diatribae (1642) 25 As this Oyle is Holy and discrete from other Oyles, so shall it accordingly by you be used with difference and discrimination.

1765 W. Ward Ess. Gram. 324 Objects thus conceiv'd, discrete must be, And such as we may count, by one, two, three.

1775 J. Harris Philos. Arrangem. ix. 200 The motion of all Animals..by being alternate, is of the discrete kind.

1850 J. P. Nichol Archit. Heavens i. 38 Any telescope capable of resolving these various masses into discrete stars.

a1881 A. Barratt Physical Metempiric (1883) vi. 59 To hold together, and keep discrete, simultaneous phenomena.

1946 A. Nelson Princ. Agric. Bot. iii. 33 All plants are cellular in structure. Each cell is a discrete unit.

2011 J. A. Smith Music in Anc. Judaism & Early Christianity vii. 176 Singers could constitute a discrete group—a choir—within the worshipping community.

β. 1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene ii. xii. sig. Aa8^v The waters fall with difference discreet, Now soft, now loud, vnto the wind did call.1612 H. Peacham Graphice iii. 147 Raine or water..being diuided by the cold aire in the falling downe into discreete parts.

b. Music. Consisting of or characterized by tones separated by fixed intervals of pitch, as the notes of a piano. Also: designating a movement of the voice from one pitch to another without portamento (portamento n. 1). Cf. concrete adj. 1b.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > pitch > system of sounds or intervals > [adjective] > with fixed intervals

discrete1664

1664 J. Birchensha tr. J. H. Alsted Templum Musicum 15 Every Sound is continual or discrete [L. discretus], or explainable by number.

1721 A. Malcolm Treat. Musick i. 19 Sound..may pass from Degree to Degree, and make a sensible Stand at every Pitch, so as every Degree shall be distinct; this they [sc. the Ancients] called the discrete or discontinued Motion of Sound, proper only to Musick or Singing.

1749 R. Smith Harmonics i. 4 In the continued motion, the voice never rests at any certain pitch, but waves up and down by insensible degrees; in the discrete motion it does the contrary; frequently resting or staying at certain places.

1827 J. Rush Philos. Human Voice i. 40 When he can recognize all the points on the discrete scale, he will be able to give these various boundaries to his concrete movements.

1883 C. J. Plumptre King's Coll. Lect. Elocution (new ed.) viii. 103 As voice can only be heard on vowels in the discrete notes of the music of song; so it is only upon vowels, the voice can sustain the concrete notes that form the simple rising and falling.

1916 J. L. Dunk Hyperacoustics I. 10 The reduction to a discrete scale by many factors..provided a ‘pitch-linearity’ favouring the construction of definite scales.

1994 F. R. Levin in tr. Nicomachus Man. Harmonics 40 Aristoxenus discriminated between the two motions of the voice—the continuous motion of speech and the intervallar or discrete motion of song.

c. Medicine. Of a lesion of the skin or other part of the body: separate from other such lesions; not confluent; circumscribed. Also: characterized by the presence of such lesions; esp. in discrete smallpox.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of visible parts > skin disorders > [adjective] > other diseases or conditions

redeOE

impetiginous1650

discrete1684

skin-bound1784

rupial1834

erythematous1842

rupitic1863

sprayed1869

copaibal1874

papulosquamous1877

keloidal1888

papuloerythematous1899

pyodermic1899

toxidermic1899

maculopapular1902

cheloidal1908

pitting1926

poikilodermatous1936

erythemal1940

porokeratotic1943

Sézary1953

rhabditic1964

erythematic-

the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of visible parts > eruptive diseases > [noun] > smallpox

pock1296

variole?a1425

pox1476

small-pockc1510

smallpox?1562

variola1593

little pox?a1649

variolous1676

discrete smallpox1684

varioloid1820

varicelloid1873

variola major1902

whitepox1911

variola minor1925

1684 tr. T. Bonet Guide Pract. Physician xviii. 601 The interstinct or discrete [L. Interstinctæ, vel Discretæ] [Small Pox] come with a Shivering and Coldness.

1733 J. Allen Summary View Whole Pract. Physick I. i. 83 When the Small-Pox are come out, the same Regimen is to be observed, as is usual in the distinct Kind, got in the common way; and if there be occasion for any thing at all of Medicine, these procured by Art require the same Method of Treatment, as the benign discrete Small-Pox in the natural way.

1764 T. Southwell tr. Med. Ess. & Observ. II. 248 There were here double tertians, pleurisies, discrete small-poxes, rarely confluent.

1803 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 10 487 The spots [of measles and urticaria] are usually discrete, insulated.

1882 19th Cent. Apr. 531 The discrete, ‘distinct’, or ‘benign’ form being by no means a severe disease, even among the unvaccinated.

1921 J. F. Schamberg Dis. Skin & Eruptive Fevers (ed. 4) 54 Papular eczema..is characterized by pin-head-sized, round or acuminate, reddish elevations, either discrete or closely aggregated.

1940 Jrnl. Allergy 12 7 Within from three to five minutes, discrete urticarial wheals appeared, with a diminution of the itching.

1962 Postgraduate Med. Jrnl. 38 141/1 Type 6, ‘discrete’ smallpox, predominated in the pre-school age-group.

1978 Current Probl. Surg. 15 9 A solitary thyroid nodule refers to a discrete, clearly outlined nodule, 1 cm or larger.

2007 tr. W. Siegenthaler et al. Differential Diagnosis Internal Med. iv. 116/1 In endocarditis these lesions are generally very discrete. In meningococcemia, lesions are more noticeable due to confluence.

†d. Logic. Designating concepts or terms that are dissimilar but not contradictory (e.g. tasty and red), and might therefore be applicable to the same object (e.g. a tomato). Obsolete. rare.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > logic > logical classification > [adjective] > relating to logical concept

thematic1697

discretea1856

a1856 W. Hamilton Lect. Metaphysics (1860) III. xi. 209 In so far as Conspecies are considered to be different but not contradictory, they are properly called Discrete or Disjunct Notions.

1864 F. C. Bowen Treat. Logic iv. 66 They [sc. the concepts denoted by sweet and red] are properly called disjunct or discrete Notions, for they are only relatively different; they have at least so much in common, that they can be co-ordinated under some higher Concept.

a. Originally: consisting of distinct or individual parts, discontinuous. In later use also (often in the context of quantum theory): able to assume or take only certain values or magnitudes. discrete quantity n. quantity composed of distinct units, as number, in contrast to continuous quantity or magnitude.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > continuity or uninterruptedness > discontinuity or interrupted condition > [adjective]

discontinuala1398

discontinueda1398

discretea1398

discontinualc1450

uncontinued1585

disjunct1594

discontinued1624

discontinuate1625

discontinuated1634

discontinuous1645

infracted1727

uncontinuous1846

inarticulate1852

incontinuous1862

saccadic1936

the world > relative properties > number > mathematical number or quantity > [adjective] > describing particular qualities > discrete

discretea1398

discretized1986

a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xix. cxxvi. 1365 Þe diuisioun of an euene noumbre is most in contynual quantite [L. secundum magnitudinem maxima] and lest in nombre and discrete quantite [L. secundum quantitatem discretam minima].

1570 H. Billingsley tr. Euclid Elements Geom. ii. f. 62 Two contrary kynds of quantity, quantity discrete or number, and quantity continual or magnitude.

1687 H. More Answer to Psychopyrist (1689) 123 Inseperability, continued Amplitude, belongs to Spirits as well as discrete Quantity.

1785 T. Reid Ess. Intellect. Powers iii. iii. 311 Duration and extension are not discrete, but continued quantity.

1839 H. Hallam Introd. Lit. Europe II. viii. 447 They were dealing with continuous, or geometrical, not merely with discrete, or arithmetical, quantity.

1876 H. Spencer Princ. Sociol. (1877) I. 475 The parts of an animal form a concrete whole; but the parts of a society form a whole that is discrete.

1893 A. R. Forsyth Theory Functions Complex Variable 584 If there be no infinitesimal substitution, then the group is said to be discontinuous, or discrete.

1893 J. Harkness & F. Morley Treat. Theory Functions 50 To Hankel we owe the idea of a discrete mass of points.

1940 G. Gamow Birth & Death of Sun ii. 53 The emission and absorption of light can take place only in the form of certain discrete portions, or quanta, of energy.

2009 W. G. Hopkins & N. P. A. Hüner Introd. Plant Physiol. (ed. 4) vi. 96/2 Each singlet excited state in which an electron may exist may be subdivided into a variety of smaller but discrete internal energy levels called vibrational and rotational levels.

b. Belonging to, relating to, or dealing with distinct or disconnected parts; (Mathematics, of proportion) = discontinual adj. 2.

ΚΠ

1660 R. Coke Justice Vindicated 23 All Geometrical proportion is either discrete, or continued. Discrete is, when the similitudo rationum is only between the 1. and the 2. and the 3. and 4. term.

1856 P. E. Dove Logic Christian Faith 422 Scepticism is discrete and proceeds in detail.

1921 T. Heath Hist. Greek Math. I. vii. 249 Eudoxus was too accomplished a mathematician to make any confusion between a discrete and a continuous proportion.

1936 N. Feather Introd. Nucl. Physics x. 153 The emission of radiation (having a discrete energy spectrum).

1968 Brit. Med. Bull. 24 230/2 An observation on a patient is said to be discrete if it has a small number of distinct possibilities: for example, presence or absence of epigastric pain.

2008 W. J. Steinberg Statistics Alive iv. 48 Measures of nominal variables are discrete because a case falls at one classification or another but cannot fall in between.

†3. Grammar and Logic. Of a conjunction: indicating an alternative; expressing opposition or antithesis; adversative. Also of a proposition, axiom, etc.: containing such a conjunction; discretive. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > logic > logical proposition > [adjective] > disjunctive

discretive1542

disjunctive1587

disjunct1608

discrete1628

subdisjunctive1656

hypothetico-disjunctivea1856

the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > a part of speech > conjunction > [adjective] > disjunctive

discretive1542

segregative1588

discrete1628

disjunctive1628

disconnective1824

separative1888

1628 T. Spencer Art of Logick 237 That Axiome is discrete, that hath a discrete Coniunction for the band thereof.

a1638 J. Mede Apostasy Latter Times (1641) 2 The Words..of my Text [Bible (1 Tim. iv. 1)], depend upon the last of the former chapter, as the second part of a discreet [Errata: discrete] proposition.

1654 Z. Coke Art of Logick 119 A discreet sentence, is, which hath a discreet conjunction; as although, yet, notwithstanding, &c.

1664 H. More Apol. in Modest Enq. Myst. Iniquity 538 [It will] run in this form of a Discrete Axiome, I will have you wait on me at such a meeting, though your cloaths be old or out of the mode.

1755 S. Johnson Dict. Eng. Lang. (at cited word) Disjunctive; as, I resign my life, but not my honour, is a discrete proposition.

4. Metaphysics and Philosophy. Chiefly with reference to the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg: designating each of a series of degrees or planes of existence, conceived of as being qualitatively different from each other. Frequently in discrete degree.

ΚΠ

1770 T. Hartley tr. E. Swedenborg Theosophic Lucubration xiv. 32 Those degrees which distinguish by order are called degrees of altitude, and also discrete or disjunct.

1788 N. Tucker tr. E. Swedenborg Wisdom of Angels iii. §236 In every Man from his Birth there are three Degrees of Altitude, or discrete Degrees, one above or within another.

1854 Spiritual Tel. 3 413 Ice is discreted from water, and water from steam, etc. Yet they are all the same thing on different discrete planes.

1856 L. H. Grindon Life xxvii. 245 Wherever things are differentiated by a discrete degree, the commencement of the new one is..on a higher level.

1921 New Philos. 24 57 Discrete degrees, although distinct from each other, are not disconnected from each other.

2005 A. M. T. Dibb Servetus, Swedenborg & Nature of God xi. 278 The doctrine of discrete degrees makes it possible for one thing to take on a certain reality on different planes.

5. Conceptual rather than material; abstract. Opposed to concrete. Now rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > existence and causation > existence > substantiality or concreteness > unsubstantiality or abstractness > [adjective] > abstract or relating to abstraction

mathematical1547

abstract1557

abstracted1605

inconcretea1626

nonsensible1838

unembodied1841

abstractional1842

discrete1851

1851 W. H. Karslake Aids Study Logic I. 32 The name Discrete would be a far better one than Abstract, for the latter word suggests naturally the idea that an Abstract idea is derived from Abstraction, while a Concrete idea is not.

1854 Fraser's Mag. 50 343/2 The mental march from concrete or real notions, to discrete or abstract truths.

1862 H. Spencer First Princ. i. ii. §9. 27 This formation of symbolic conceptions, which inevitably arises as we pass from small and concrete objects to large and to discrete ones.

1914 Forestry Q. 12 236 The study of the causal relations is plant ecology; the application of such causal relations is plant geography. The one is concrete, the other discrete.

B. n.

†1. In the shorthand system of William Folkingham: a character formed from more than one stroke of the pen. Contrasted with concrete. Obsolete. rare.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > writing > written character > [noun] > shorthand symbol

discrete1620

logogram1840

grammalogue1845

phraseogram1847

outline1850

phonogram1864

logograph1888

tachygraph1965

1620 W. Folkingham Brachigraphy iii. sig. A7^v Discretes are those..in the Table left without notes.

2. A discrete thing or entity; (Electronics) a discrete device.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > wholeness > incompleteness > part of whole > [noun] > a separate part

panelc1450

dissectiona1586

dismembering1603

discrete1871

1871 H. L. D. Potter Man. Reading 123 The sound of the human voice, as well as all mechanical or musical sounds, may be discrete or concrete. Discretes are successive detached notes or sounds; concretes are smooth and united sounds.

1873 J. H. Stirling Lect. Philos. Law 124 An arithmetical amount is very certainly an analytical amount—analytical signifying ana-lytical, dis-soluble, decomposable into discretes.

1890 J. H. Stirling Gifford Lect. xviii. 353 Break it up into an endless number of points..an endless number of discretes.

1967 Electronics 6 Mar. 116 Integrated circuits will be turning up routinely in new products throughout 1967. The big switch from discretes is on.

2000 S. B. Rosenthal Time, Continuity, & Indeterminacy ii. 34 His very setting of the alternatives for understanding the living present, or the thick now, demands and presupposes a view of time as ultimately discrete, a ‘pseudocontinuity’ of discretes.

Compounds

discrete device n. a self-contained electronic component, which can be combined with others in order to make a circuit or device.Frequently contrasted with the inseparable components of an integrated circuit. In quot. 1947 referring to digital devices.

ΚΠ

1947 Math. Tables & Other Aids Computation 2 325 Mechanical aids to computation are generally divided into two classes, namely, discrete devices and continuous devices.

1965 Science 23 Apr. 438/2 The model treats a transistor as if it were two discrete devices operated in parallel.

2000 M. Vail Vintage Synthesizers (ed. 2) ii. 133/1 The Mini-moog has no integrated circuits whatsoever..; its op amps are constructed from discrete devices.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2013; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	discrete
释义	discreteadj.n. Brit. /dᵻˈskriːt/, U.S. /dᵻˈskrit/ Forms: α. Middle English dyscrete, Middle English– discrete, 1500s descrete; also Scottish pre-1700 discrait. β. 1500s–1600s discreete, 1500s–1700s (1800s– non-standard) discreet. Origin: A borrowing from Latin. Etymon: Latin discrētus. Etymology: < classical Latin discrētus separate, distinct, in post-classical Latin also specifically in music (1630 in the passage translated in quot. 1664 at sense A. 1b), use as adjective of past participle of discernere discern v. Compare Middle French, French discret (feminine discrète , †discrete ) different, distinct (early 14th cent.), (in mathematics) discontinuous, composed of distinct units (2nd half of the 14th cent. in quantité discrete ). Compare discretion n. III. Compare also earlier discreet adj. and see discussion at that entry. Parallels in Romance languages. Compare Catalan discret composed of separate parts, discontinuous (end of the 15th cent.), Spanish discreto discontinuous (1492 in cantidad discreta discrete quantity, or earlier), Portuguese discreto individually distinct, discontinuous, Italian discreto distinct, separate (late 15th cent.), discontinuous (mid 16th cent.), (of music) consisting of tones separated by fixed intervals of pitch (2nd half of the 16th cent.), all attested earlier in senses listed at discreet adj. Spelling history. This word was used a number of times by Trevisa (translating classical Latin discrētus ) in the text cited in quot. a1398 at sense A. 1aα. , but appears not to have been used more widely until the late 16th cent. Although the α. forms in -ete have predominated throughout the history of the word, β. forms in -eet , -eete are also attested in the early modern period. The etymological doublet discreet adj. appears in a similar range of spellings in this period, and it is possible that the two words may have been perceived as a single, polysemous word, although they show considerable semantic divergence. The emergence of discrete as the accepted spelling of the present word (more closely reflecting the form of its classical Latin etymon) is shown in dictionaries from the 18th cent. onwards, and probably reflects an attempt to differentiate the two words in writing. Instances of the spelling discreet are still occasionally found for this word in present-day use. They are usually regarded as errors for discreet. A. adj. 1. a. Separate; detached from others; individually distinct. Opposed to continuous.There was apparently no continuity between the use by Trevisa and later use (compare discussion in etymology section).In quot. 1594 at α. applied to an arc that does not begin at the usual point on the ecliptic. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > [adjective] > separate or separated sunderedc1230 ysondredc1380 discretea1398 divisec1420 dissevered1471 separate?a1475 separated1535 semoted1542 dissociate1548 dirempt1580 dissundered1580 severed1581 parted1595 dividual1598 twain1600 sejunct1602 disassociated1611 dissociated1611 dividenta1616 entire to itselfa1618 interstinct1623 disjected1647 segregant1647 severized1649 divided1658 separate1667 secrete1678 disaffiliated1839 dirempted1900 α. a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xix. cxvi. 1355 [The number] oon is bigynnyng of all þinge þat is continual and discrete. 1570 J. Dee in H. Billingsley tr. Euclid Elements Geom. Math. Præf. sig. aij Of distinct and discrete Vnits. 1594 T. Blundeville Exercises iii. i. xxxi. f. 162 Of which Arkes some are called continuall, and some descrete or deuided... That Arke is called discrete or broken, which doth not take his beginning from the first point of Aries. a1638 J. Mede Diatribae (1642) 25 As this Oyle is Holy and discrete from other Oyles, so shall it accordingly by you be used with difference and discrimination. 1765 W. Ward Ess. Gram. 324 Objects thus conceiv'd, discrete must be, And such as we may count, by one, two, three. 1775 J. Harris Philos. Arrangem. ix. 200 The motion of all Animals..by being alternate, is of the discrete kind. 1850 J. P. Nichol Archit. Heavens i. 38 Any telescope capable of resolving these various masses into discrete stars. a1881 A. Barratt Physical Metempiric (1883) vi. 59 To hold together, and keep discrete, simultaneous phenomena. 1946 A. Nelson Princ. Agric. Bot. iii. 33 All plants are cellular in structure. Each cell is a discrete unit. 2011 J. A. Smith Music in Anc. Judaism & Early Christianity vii. 176 Singers could constitute a discrete group—a choir—within the worshipping community. β. 1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene ii. xii. sig. Aa8^v The waters fall with difference discreet, Now soft, now loud, vnto the wind did call.1612 H. Peacham Graphice iii. 147 Raine or water..being diuided by the cold aire in the falling downe into discreete parts. b. Music. Consisting of or characterized by tones separated by fixed intervals of pitch, as the notes of a piano. Also: designating a movement of the voice from one pitch to another without portamento (portamento n. 1). Cf. concrete adj. 1b. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > pitch > system of sounds or intervals > [adjective] > with fixed intervals discrete1664 1664 J. Birchensha tr. J. H. Alsted Templum Musicum 15 Every Sound is continual or discrete [L. discretus], or explainable by number. 1721 A. Malcolm Treat. Musick i. 19 Sound..may pass from Degree to Degree, and make a sensible Stand at every Pitch, so as every Degree shall be distinct; this they [sc. the Ancients] called the discrete or discontinued Motion of Sound, proper only to Musick or Singing. 1749 R. Smith Harmonics i. 4 In the continued motion, the voice never rests at any certain pitch, but waves up and down by insensible degrees; in the discrete motion it does the contrary; frequently resting or staying at certain places. 1827 J. Rush Philos. Human Voice i. 40 When he can recognize all the points on the discrete scale, he will be able to give these various boundaries to his concrete movements. 1883 C. J. Plumptre King's Coll. Lect. Elocution (new ed.) viii. 103 As voice can only be heard on vowels in the discrete notes of the music of song; so it is only upon vowels, the voice can sustain the concrete notes that form the simple rising and falling. 1916 J. L. Dunk Hyperacoustics I. 10 The reduction to a discrete scale by many factors..provided a ‘pitch-linearity’ favouring the construction of definite scales. 1994 F. R. Levin in tr. Nicomachus Man. Harmonics 40 Aristoxenus discriminated between the two motions of the voice—the continuous motion of speech and the intervallar or discrete motion of song. c. Medicine. Of a lesion of the skin or other part of the body: separate from other such lesions; not confluent; circumscribed. Also: characterized by the presence of such lesions; esp. in discrete smallpox. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of visible parts > skin disorders > [adjective] > other diseases or conditions redeOE impetiginous1650 discrete1684 skin-bound1784 rupial1834 erythematous1842 rupitic1863 sprayed1869 copaibal1874 papulosquamous1877 keloidal1888 papuloerythematous1899 pyodermic1899 toxidermic1899 maculopapular1902 cheloidal1908 pitting1926 poikilodermatous1936 erythemal1940 porokeratotic1943 Sézary1953 rhabditic1964 erythematic- the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of visible parts > eruptive diseases > [noun] > smallpox pock1296 variole?a1425 pox1476 small-pockc1510 smallpox?1562 variola1593 little pox?a1649 variolous1676 discrete smallpox1684 varioloid1820 varicelloid1873 variola major1902 whitepox1911 variola minor1925 1684 tr. T. Bonet Guide Pract. Physician xviii. 601 The interstinct or discrete [L. Interstinctæ, vel Discretæ] [Small Pox] come with a Shivering and Coldness. 1733 J. Allen Summary View Whole Pract. Physick I. i. 83 When the Small-Pox are come out, the same Regimen is to be observed, as is usual in the distinct Kind, got in the common way; and if there be occasion for any thing at all of Medicine, these procured by Art require the same Method of Treatment, as the benign discrete Small-Pox in the natural way. 1764 T. Southwell tr. Med. Ess. & Observ. II. 248 There were here double tertians, pleurisies, discrete small-poxes, rarely confluent. 1803 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 10 487 The spots [of measles and urticaria] are usually discrete, insulated. 1882 19th Cent. Apr. 531 The discrete, ‘distinct’, or ‘benign’ form being by no means a severe disease, even among the unvaccinated. 1921 J. F. Schamberg Dis. Skin & Eruptive Fevers (ed. 4) 54 Papular eczema..is characterized by pin-head-sized, round or acuminate, reddish elevations, either discrete or closely aggregated. 1940 Jrnl. Allergy 12 7 Within from three to five minutes, discrete urticarial wheals appeared, with a diminution of the itching. 1962 Postgraduate Med. Jrnl. 38 141/1 Type 6, ‘discrete’ smallpox, predominated in the pre-school age-group. 1978 Current Probl. Surg. 15 9 A solitary thyroid nodule refers to a discrete, clearly outlined nodule, 1 cm or larger. 2007 tr. W. Siegenthaler et al. Differential Diagnosis Internal Med. iv. 116/1 In endocarditis these lesions are generally very discrete. In meningococcemia, lesions are more noticeable due to confluence. †d. Logic. Designating concepts or terms that are dissimilar but not contradictory (e.g. tasty and red), and might therefore be applicable to the same object (e.g. a tomato). Obsolete. rare. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > logic > logical classification > [adjective] > relating to logical concept thematic1697 discretea1856 a1856 W. Hamilton Lect. Metaphysics (1860) III. xi. 209 In so far as Conspecies are considered to be different but not contradictory, they are properly called Discrete or Disjunct Notions. 1864 F. C. Bowen Treat. Logic iv. 66 They [sc. the concepts denoted by sweet and red] are properly called disjunct or discrete Notions, for they are only relatively different; they have at least so much in common, that they can be co-ordinated under some higher Concept. 2. a. Originally: consisting of distinct or individual parts, discontinuous. In later use also (often in the context of quantum theory): able to assume or take only certain values or magnitudes. discrete quantity n. quantity composed of distinct units, as number, in contrast to continuous quantity or magnitude. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > continuity or uninterruptedness > discontinuity or interrupted condition > [adjective] discontinuala1398 discontinueda1398 discretea1398 discontinualc1450 uncontinued1585 disjunct1594 discontinued1624 discontinuate1625 discontinuated1634 discontinuous1645 infracted1727 uncontinuous1846 inarticulate1852 incontinuous1862 saccadic1936 the world > relative properties > number > mathematical number or quantity > [adjective] > describing particular qualities > discrete discretea1398 discretized1986 a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xix. cxxvi. 1365 Þe diuisioun of an euene noumbre is most in contynual quantite [L. secundum magnitudinem maxima] and lest in nombre and discrete quantite [L. secundum quantitatem discretam minima]. 1570 H. Billingsley tr. Euclid Elements Geom. ii. f. 62 Two contrary kynds of quantity, quantity discrete or number, and quantity continual or magnitude. 1687 H. More Answer to Psychopyrist (1689) 123 Inseperability, continued Amplitude, belongs to Spirits as well as discrete Quantity. 1785 T. Reid Ess. Intellect. Powers iii. iii. 311 Duration and extension are not discrete, but continued quantity. 1839 H. Hallam Introd. Lit. Europe II. viii. 447 They were dealing with continuous, or geometrical, not merely with discrete, or arithmetical, quantity. 1876 H. Spencer Princ. Sociol. (1877) I. 475 The parts of an animal form a concrete whole; but the parts of a society form a whole that is discrete. 1893 A. R. Forsyth Theory Functions Complex Variable 584 If there be no infinitesimal substitution, then the group is said to be discontinuous, or discrete. 1893 J. Harkness & F. Morley Treat. Theory Functions 50 To Hankel we owe the idea of a discrete mass of points. 1940 G. Gamow Birth & Death of Sun ii. 53 The emission and absorption of light can take place only in the form of certain discrete portions, or quanta, of energy. 2009 W. G. Hopkins & N. P. A. Hüner Introd. Plant Physiol. (ed. 4) vi. 96/2 Each singlet excited state in which an electron may exist may be subdivided into a variety of smaller but discrete internal energy levels called vibrational and rotational levels. b. Belonging to, relating to, or dealing with distinct or disconnected parts; (Mathematics, of proportion) = discontinual adj. 2. ΚΠ 1660 R. Coke Justice Vindicated 23 All Geometrical proportion is either discrete, or continued. Discrete is, when the similitudo rationum is only between the 1. and the 2. and the 3. and 4. term. 1856 P. E. Dove Logic Christian Faith 422 Scepticism is discrete and proceeds in detail. 1921 T. Heath Hist. Greek Math. I. vii. 249 Eudoxus was too accomplished a mathematician to make any confusion between a discrete and a continuous proportion. 1936 N. Feather Introd. Nucl. Physics x. 153 The emission of radiation (having a discrete energy spectrum). 1968 Brit. Med. Bull. 24 230/2 An observation on a patient is said to be discrete if it has a small number of distinct possibilities: for example, presence or absence of epigastric pain. 2008 W. J. Steinberg Statistics Alive iv. 48 Measures of nominal variables are discrete because a case falls at one classification or another but cannot fall in between. †3. Grammar and Logic. Of a conjunction: indicating an alternative; expressing opposition or antithesis; adversative. Also of a proposition, axiom, etc.: containing such a conjunction; discretive. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > logic > logical proposition > [adjective] > disjunctive discretive1542 disjunctive1587 disjunct1608 discrete1628 subdisjunctive1656 hypothetico-disjunctivea1856 the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > a part of speech > conjunction > [adjective] > disjunctive discretive1542 segregative1588 discrete1628 disjunctive1628 disconnective1824 separative1888 1628 T. Spencer Art of Logick 237 That Axiome is discrete, that hath a discrete Coniunction for the band thereof. a1638 J. Mede Apostasy Latter Times (1641) 2 The Words..of my Text [Bible (1 Tim. iv. 1)], depend upon the last of the former chapter, as the second part of a discreet [Errata: discrete] proposition. 1654 Z. Coke Art of Logick 119 A discreet sentence, is, which hath a discreet conjunction; as although, yet, notwithstanding, &c. 1664 H. More Apol. in Modest Enq. Myst. Iniquity 538 [It will] run in this form of a Discrete Axiome, I will have you wait on me at such a meeting, though your cloaths be old or out of the mode. 1755 S. Johnson Dict. Eng. Lang. (at cited word) Disjunctive; as, I resign my life, but not my honour, is a discrete proposition. 4. Metaphysics and Philosophy. Chiefly with reference to the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg: designating each of a series of degrees or planes of existence, conceived of as being qualitatively different from each other. Frequently in discrete degree. ΚΠ 1770 T. Hartley tr. E. Swedenborg Theosophic Lucubration xiv. 32 Those degrees which distinguish by order are called degrees of altitude, and also discrete or disjunct. 1788 N. Tucker tr. E. Swedenborg Wisdom of Angels iii. §236 In every Man from his Birth there are three Degrees of Altitude, or discrete Degrees, one above or within another. 1854 Spiritual Tel. 3 413 Ice is discreted from water, and water from steam, etc. Yet they are all the same thing on different discrete planes. 1856 L. H. Grindon Life xxvii. 245 Wherever things are differentiated by a discrete degree, the commencement of the new one is..on a higher level. 1921 New Philos. 24 57 Discrete degrees, although distinct from each other, are not disconnected from each other. 2005 A. M. T. Dibb Servetus, Swedenborg & Nature of God xi. 278 The doctrine of discrete degrees makes it possible for one thing to take on a certain reality on different planes. 5. Conceptual rather than material; abstract. Opposed to concrete. Now rare. ΘΚΠ the world > existence and causation > existence > substantiality or concreteness > unsubstantiality or abstractness > [adjective] > abstract or relating to abstraction mathematical1547 abstract1557 abstracted1605 inconcretea1626 nonsensible1838 unembodied1841 abstractional1842 discrete1851 1851 W. H. Karslake Aids Study Logic I. 32 The name Discrete would be a far better one than Abstract, for the latter word suggests naturally the idea that an Abstract idea is derived from Abstraction, while a Concrete idea is not. 1854 Fraser's Mag. 50 343/2 The mental march from concrete or real notions, to discrete or abstract truths. 1862 H. Spencer First Princ. i. ii. §9. 27 This formation of symbolic conceptions, which inevitably arises as we pass from small and concrete objects to large and to discrete ones. 1914 Forestry Q. 12 236 The study of the causal relations is plant ecology; the application of such causal relations is plant geography. The one is concrete, the other discrete. B. n. †1. In the shorthand system of William Folkingham: a character formed from more than one stroke of the pen. Contrasted with concrete. Obsolete. rare. ΘΚΠ society > communication > writing > written character > [noun] > shorthand symbol discrete1620 logogram1840 grammalogue1845 phraseogram1847 outline1850 phonogram1864 logograph1888 tachygraph1965 1620 W. Folkingham Brachigraphy iii. sig. A7^v Discretes are those..in the Table left without notes. 2. A discrete thing or entity; (Electronics) a discrete device. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > wholeness > incompleteness > part of whole > [noun] > a separate part panelc1450 dissectiona1586 dismembering1603 discrete1871 1871 H. L. D. Potter Man. Reading 123 The sound of the human voice, as well as all mechanical or musical sounds, may be discrete or concrete. Discretes are successive detached notes or sounds; concretes are smooth and united sounds. 1873 J. H. Stirling Lect. Philos. Law 124 An arithmetical amount is very certainly an analytical amount—analytical signifying ana-lytical, dis-soluble, decomposable into discretes. 1890 J. H. Stirling Gifford Lect. xviii. 353 Break it up into an endless number of points..an endless number of discretes. 1967 Electronics 6 Mar. 116 Integrated circuits will be turning up routinely in new products throughout 1967. The big switch from discretes is on. 2000 S. B. Rosenthal Time, Continuity, & Indeterminacy ii. 34 His very setting of the alternatives for understanding the living present, or the thick now, demands and presupposes a view of time as ultimately discrete, a ‘pseudocontinuity’ of discretes. Compounds discrete device n. a self-contained electronic component, which can be combined with others in order to make a circuit or device.Frequently contrasted with the inseparable components of an integrated circuit. In quot. 1947 referring to digital devices. ΚΠ 1947 Math. Tables & Other Aids Computation 2 325 Mechanical aids to computation are generally divided into two classes, namely, discrete devices and continuous devices. 1965 Science 23 Apr. 438/2 The model treats a transistor as if it were two discrete devices operated in parallel. 2000 M. Vail Vintage Synthesizers (ed. 2) ii. 133/1 The Mini-moog has no integrated circuits whatsoever..; its op amps are constructed from discrete devices. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2013; most recently modified version published online March 2022). discretev. Brit. /dᵻˈskriːt/, U.S. /dᵻˈskrit/ Origin: A borrowing from Latin. Etymons: Latin discrēt-, discernere. Etymology: < classical Latin discrēt-, past participial stem of discernere discern v. Compare earlier discrete adj. transitive. To divide into distinct parts; to make discrete, to separate.Common in 17th cent. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > action of dividing or divided condition > divide [verb (transitive)] to-shedc888 to-dealeOE dealc950 twemea1023 to-doOE to-shiftc1122 brittenc1175 sunderc1230 depart1297 parta1300 twain15.. dividec1380 minisha1382 dressc1410 dissever1417 sever1435 quarterc1440 distinct1526 videc1540 disperse1548 several1570 separate1581 dirempt1587 distinguish1609 piecemeal1611 discrete1624 dispart1629 slit1645 parcel1652 canton1653 tripartite1653 split1707 carve1711 scind1869 1624 W. Ingpen Secrets of Numbers ix. 51 There be seuen similitudes of Angels. They are immortall, inuisible, indissoluble, simple, discreted in persons, incommutable, incommunicable to any other nature. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica ii. i. 55 The reason thereof is its continuity, as..its body is left imporous and not discreted by atomicall terminations. View more context for this quotation 1657 R. Tomlinson tr. J. de Renou Medicinal Materials i, in Medicinal Dispensatory sig. Ccc2 Medlers, which are of a moderate magnitude, with late heads, discreted with five unguicles or leafes. 1670 S. Gott Divine Hist. Genesis World v. 57 It may be also one Many Complexively, which yet is not Properly One, or a Unit; for that cannot be Divided or Discreted, nor hath any Halvs, Quarters, or other Fractions whatsoever. 1858 E. H. Sears Athanasia vii. 316 This essential dualism discretes for ever the two worlds of spirit and matter. 1922 Classical Philol. 17 379 His attempt to discrete the Alcaic elements in the poem are less convincing. 1994 Managem. Sci. 40 130/2 The expectations must be computed numerically. We do this by discreting the statespace. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2013; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < adj.n.a1398v.1624
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discreteadj.n.

Compounds

discretev.