Etymology: < discern v. Compare earlier discerning n.¹, discernment n. N.E.D. (1896) gives the pronunciation as (dizə̄·ɹn) /dɪˈzɜːn/; compare discussion at discern v.

Etymology: < (i) Anglo-Norman and Middle French discerner (French discerner ) to separate (a thing) from another (13th cent. in Old French), to perceive, distinguish (a thing) (1310), to distinguish (one thing) from another (mid 14th cent. or earlier in discerner quelque chose de quelque chose ), to distinguish or discriminate between one thing and another (second half of the 14th cent. in discerner entre ), and its etymon (ii) classical Latin discernere to separate, to distinguish, to settle, decide < dis- dis- prefix + cernere cern v.¹ Compare Catalan discernir (14th cent.), Spanish discernir (second half of the 14th cent.), Portuguese discernir (15th cent. as †deçernir , †desçernyr ), Italian discernere (a1292). Compare decern v., with which the present word shows partial semantic overlap.In sense 5 perhaps partly by confusion with decern v. (see discussion at that entry), although the sense ‘to decide’ is already attested in classical Latin. With the forms in des- (which in French appear to be paralleled only by Old French (Flanders) descerner , second quarter of the 13th cent.), compare the discussion at des- prefix, and compare also the discussion at decern v. N.E.D. (1896) gave only the pronunciation (dizə̄·ɹn) /dɪˈzɜːn/. For both British and U.S. English, pronunciation with /z/ as the medial consonant is the only one recorded in dictionaries from the late 18th cent. to the end of the 19th; early 20th cent. dictionaries give this as the main pronunciation, with /s/ as an alternative. The order of alternatives is reversed from the mid 20th cent., but /z/ is still given as an alternative in J. C. Wells Longman Pronunciation Dict. (1990).