discernible

Etymology

In its present spelling it is borrowed from Late Latin discernibilis (“that may be discerned, knowable”),^[2][3] recorded in the 4th century,^[2] from Latin discernō (“to separate, distinguish”) and the suffix -bilis.^[2][4] It continues the older discernable, recorded from 1548,^[2] which is discern with the suffix -able,^[2][5] or, in other accounts, Middle French discernable, from discerner.^[6][4][3] Etymonline notes that the form with -a- was the commoner at first and that the spelling with -i- spread in the 17th century, after the Late Latin word;^[6] Merriam-Webster Unabridged and the Shorter Oxford likewise treat discernible as discernable altered under its influence.^[4][5] The Latin verb is formed from dis- (“apart”) and cernō (“to perceive, sift”).^[7][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Capable of discerning: 1603, in Samuel Daniel's Panegyrike, an obsolete and rare sense.^[2] The ordinary sense, "that can be perceived by the mind", follows in 1616.^[2] The spelling discernable goes back to 1548, meaning distinguishable from something else.^[2] Etymonline and the Shorter Oxford date the word, in either spelling, to the 1560s or the mid 16th century.^[6][5]

Semantic evolution

The word has meant from the start "perceptible", first to the mind (1616), then to the senses other than sight (1633), and to sight, "visible" (1678).^[2] The sense "distinguishable from something else", often with from, is recorded from 1645.^[2] Johnson (1755) glossed it as discoverable, perceptible, distinguishable and apparent.^[8] The OED notes that discernible is now the commoner spelling, and that some later examples of discernable may be misprints for it;^[2] Collins calls discernable rare.^[9]

Timeline

• 1548 – discernable, distinguishable from something else.^[2]
• 1561 – discernable, perceptible to the mind; visible.^[2]
• 1603 – discernible, capable of discerning (obsolete).^[2]
• 1616 – that can be perceived by the mind.^[2]
• 1633 – perceptible by a sense other than sight.^[2]
• 1645 – distinguishable from something else.^[2]
• 1678 – perceptible by sight; visible.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Able to be discerned by the senses or the mind; perceptible: a discernible change in the weather.^[4][9][2]
2. Able to be told apart from something else; distinguishable.^[4][2]

Word family

• discernibly
• discernibleness
• indiscernible

Related words

• discernment
• discern
• discernable
• discriminate
• certain

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
4. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
9. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins