discriminate
verb
H. G. Armstrong
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Although many methods or motives for discriminating are unfair and undesirable (or even illegal), the verb itself has a neutral history. English speakers borrowed it from the past participle of the Latin verb discriminare (meaning "to distinguish or differentiate"), which, itself, is derived from the verb discernere, meaning "to distinguish between." Discernere, in turn, was formed by combining the prefix dis- (meaning "apart") and cernere ("to sift"). Other descendants of discernere include discern and discernible (as you no doubt guessed), discreet, and indiscretion. In addition, the root cernere gives us concern, certain, decree, and even secret.
Synonyms
Examples of discriminate in a Sentence
Curtis Bunn, NBC News, 6 Nov. 2024
Require the government not to discriminate, in government programs, funding, and other activities, against persons providing or obtaining reproductive health care.
—Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA TODAY, 2 Nov. 2024
These schools can choose which students to accept; are free to discriminate against students on the basis of disability, learning styles, or identity; and lack the basic student and family services that public schools are required to provide.
—Nina Turner, Newsweek, 30 Oct. 2024
In 2013, Daniel Robert, a sensory ecologist at the University of Bristol in England, broke ground in this discipline when his lab discovered that bees can detect and discriminate among electric fields radiating from flowers.
—Max G. Levy, WIRED, 27 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for discriminate 
Dictionary Entries Near discriminate
Cite this Entry
“Discriminate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/discriminate. Accessed 1 Dec. 2024.
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discriminate
verb
Medical Definition
discriminate
verb
J. A. SwetsLegal Definition
discriminate
intransitive verb
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