discriminatedi‧scrim‧i‧nate /dɪˈskrɪməneɪt/ ●○○ AWL verb 
Under federal law, it is illegal to discriminate against minorities and women.discriminate on the grounds/basis of something It was found that the company still discriminated on the basis of race in promotions.2[intransitive, transitive] to recognize a difference between things SYN differentiatediscriminate between Newborn babies can discriminate between a man’s and a woman’s voice.discriminate something from something the process of learning to discriminate fact from opinion
WORD ORIGINdiscriminate
Origin:
1600-1700 Latin discriminare ‘to divide’, from discernere; ➔ DISCERNVERB TABLE
discriminate
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | discriminate |
| he, she, it | discriminates | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | discriminated |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have discriminated |
| he, she, it | has discriminated | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had discriminated |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will discriminate |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have discriminated |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am discriminating |
| he, she, it | is discriminating | |
| you, we, they | are discriminating | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was discriminating |
| you, we, they | were discriminating | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been discriminating |
| he, she, it | has been discriminating | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been discriminating |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be discriminating |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been discriminating |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- A test is useful for discriminating those students who have reached a higher level from those at a lower level.
- The monkeys were easily able to discriminate between the different objects, according to their visual appearance.
- Agencies and landlords are not legally allowed to discriminate on grounds of race but ways are invariably found around this.
- Barring a compelling reason, governments should not discriminate between classes of citizens.
- Both county and federal governments were taking tax dollars out of my pocket and using them to discriminate against other women.
- Ii also find it appalling that the commission should discriminate between farmers so blatantly.
- In addition there are a number of ways in which the social security system directly discriminates against older people.
- It also defies basic standards of fairness by discriminating against large numbers of minority students.
- It is, of course, necessary to check carefully and individually the size of type that a visually impaired pupil can discriminate.
Longman Language Activatorto notice that two things or people are different
to be able to notice that two things or people are different, even though they seem to be similar: · It looked just like a real diamond - I couldn't tell the difference.can tell the difference between: · Can you tell the difference between a really good wine and the sort that you might drink every day?
to be able to see that two very similar people or things are different - use this especially in questions and negative statements: · The twins are identical - even their parents can't always tell them apart.
to be able to recognize and understand the difference between two or more similar people or things: · Several thousand minerals can be distinguished, each defined by its own set of properties.distinguish between: · Even a expert would find it hard to distinguish between the original painting and the copy.distinguish from: · A tiny baby soon learns to distinguish its mother's face from other adults' faces.
to know, see, or show the difference between a group of people or things: differentiate between: · As journalists, we have to differentiate between facts and opinions.differentiate from: · Part of the management course was teaching us how to differentiate essential tasks from less important ones.
to say what the difference is between two or more similar people or things: draw/make a distinction between: · The law draws a distinction between different types of killing, according to whether it was intended or not.· In the government's education proposals there is a clear distinction made between academic and practical training.
to be able to find differences between similar people or things in order to make a choice: discriminate between: · The monkeys were easily able to discriminate between the different objects, according to their visual appearance.discriminate from: · A test is useful for discriminating those students who have reached a higher level from those at a lower level.
unfair treatment because of someone's race, sex, age etc: discrimination against · The Department was notorious for its blatant discrimination against non-U.S. citizen employees.· The policy forbids any form of discrimination against gay and lesbian students.racial discrimination (=discrimination because of someone's race) · a plan to tackle racial discrimination in the police forcesexual/sex/gender discrimination (=discrimination because of someone's sex) · a sex discrimination caseage discrimination (=discrimination because of someone's age, especially if they are quite old) · He believed his boss had violated the age discrimination law.reverse discrimination (=the practice of treating unfairly a group of people who usually have advantages, in order to be fair to people who do not have those advantages) · White-male fears of reverse discrimination have been widely exaggerated.
to treat someone unfairly because of their race, sex, age etc - use this especially about companies, the police, judges etc: · Shaun says he has definitely been discriminated against because he's black.· Why do so many companies think it's OK to discriminate against older people?
when people do not like or trust someone who is different, for example because they belong to a different race, country, religion etc: · For years he has fought against prejudice and racial hatred.prejudice against: · a rising prejudice against gaysracial prejudice (=prejudice because of someone's race): · The number of hate crimes spurred by racial prejudice is increasing in our state.
when people do not have the same rights or opportunities in their education, their jobs etc, because of their sex, race, or social class: inequality in: · The report looks at inequality in education.inequality between: · The study shows that large inequalities still exist between men and women.inequality of/in: · Most of the complaints centered on the inequality of the justice system.social/sexual/racial etc inequality: · Social inequality is likely to increase in the 21st century.· signs of economic inequality
discriminatory laws, systems etc treat one particular group in society, such as women or black people, unfairly: · Congress is to launch an inquiry into discriminatory acts by immigration officials.· The government enacted laws to protect women from discriminatory employment practices.· Was there evidence of discriminatory treatment?
an attitude or belief, usually about the way you should behave, that is unfairly thought to be correct for one group in society but not for another: · Their action is designed to call attention to the double standards operating in the Mexican judicial system.· What disturbs me most is the racial double standard that exists in foreign policy: Predominantly white countries are given aid and attention while predominantly non-white countries are ignored.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY It was found that the company still discriminated on the basis of race in promotions.COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB
It was found that the company still discriminated on the basis of race in promotions.· Today, these communities have no autonomy but are isolated, marginalised and discriminated against.· Was she discriminated against because she is a woman?
· Ideally it should not unfairly discriminate or stereotype.· The resolution stated that the death penalty unfairly discriminates against minorities.· In the past many health authorities discriminated unfairly by not employing those who may have had domestic responsibilities.
NOUN· Sadly, commentators and writers in the mass circulation dailies sometimes lack the ability to discriminate.· The ability to discriminate is admittedly a basic ingredient of survival.
· Infants do not discriminate on the basis of age.· They frequently discriminate on the basis of race, religion or national origin.· The employer is only allowed to discriminate on the basis of personal merit and suitability for the job.
· Remember, though, divorce laws don't discriminate.· Does the law discriminate in those cases between vices and unsoundness?· Nationalist Sinhalese leaders passed a number of chauvinistic laws that discriminated against Tamils in the fields of language, education and employment.
· Employment training guidelines discriminate directly against older people.· It was the job world that generated those long lists of qualifications that discriminated against people who did not have good educations.· Any society, they argue, must discriminate against impaired people to safeguard its own general social health.· Their obtrusive stir repels discriminating people.· In addition there are a number of ways in which the social security system directly discriminates against older people.· Children learn to discriminate between places and people very easily.
· The ability of speech recognition systems to discriminate words from acoustic information alone is not encouraging.· A more efficient tax system would not discriminate between cash compensation and fringe benefits.· In addition there are a number of ways in which the social security system directly discriminates against older people.· The scores used by the computational systems discriminate between hypotheses in two ways.· Second, other parts of the social security system actively discriminate against the unemployed.
· Individual-oriented psychological methods, like experiments and questionnaires, often seem to discriminate against women.· Both county and federal governments were taking tax dollars out of my pocket and using them to discriminate against other women.· Rigorous shift patterns allegedly discriminated against women with children.
WORD FAMILYnoundiscriminationadjectivediscriminatoryverbdiscriminate
1[intransitive] to treat a person or group differently from another in an unfair waydiscriminate against Under federal law, it is illegal to discriminate against minorities and women.discriminate on the grounds/basis of something It was found that the company still discriminated on the basis of race in promotions.2[intransitive, transitive] to recognize a difference between things SYN differentiatediscriminate between Newborn babies can discriminate between a man’s and a woman’s voice.discriminate something from something the process of learning to discriminate fact from opinion