discernir

Forms

discernir (first-person singular present discirno, third-person singular present discerne, first-person singular preterite discerni, past participle discernido)^[1] In the 15th century the verb was spelt deçernir, descernyr and dicirnir.^[2][3] Feijó still had to insist in 1734 on discernir rather than decernir.^[4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin discernō (“to separate, set apart; to distinguish”).^[2][3][1] Nascentes calls it semi-learned.^[5] The same Latin word gives Galician discernir, Spanish discernir, Catalan discernir, French discerner, Italian discernere and Romanian discerne.^[1][6]

The Latin verb is formed from dis- (“apart”) and cernō (“to sift, distinguish, decide”).^[1][7] De Vaan derives the simple verb from *krinō and the root Proto-Indo-European *krey- (“to sift, separate”), also the source of Ancient Greek κρίνω (krī́nō, “to separate, judge”).^[8][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The verb is recorded from the 15th century, as deçernir, descernyr and dicirnir.^[2][3] Cunha glosses its early senses as to discriminate, separate and distinguish.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Pereira's Thesouro of 1697 renders it with Latin dignosco “to tell apart”, and Bluteau defines it as distinguishing one thing from another and knowing the difference between them, with the example of telling the true from the false.^[9][10] Morais in 1789 gives the classic construction, to know good from evil.^[11] The old Caldas Aulete adds the senses “to judge, decide”, which Medieval Latin discernere also had.^[12][13] Modern dictionaries have perceiving clearly by any of the senses, understanding a situation, and forming a judgement.^[2][14][15]

Timeline

• 1400s – first records: deçernir, descernyr, dicirnir.^[2][3]
• 1697 – Pereira's Thesouro lists Discernir.^[9]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau defines the verb with examples from Cicero.^[10]
• 1734 – Feijó rejects the spelling decernir.^[4]
• 1789 – Morais gives the construction discernir o bem do mal.^[11]
• 1844 – first record of the noun discernimento.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To perceive clearly; to distinguish (distinguir) one thing from another: Não consigo discernir uma cor da outra.^[2][14][1]
2. (transitive) To grasp, understand (compreender) (a concept or situation).^[2][12]
3. (transitive, intransitive) To form a judgement; to assess, weigh up (avaliar).^[2][16][17]
4. (transitive) To identify with knowledge of the matter, as an expert does.^[2]

Word family

• discernimento
• discernível
• discernente

Related words

• cernir
• discreto
• discrição
• Latin cernō
• Spanish discernir

Usage notes

In the present the stem vowel becomes i where the ending begins with o or a: discirno, discirna; the old Caldas Aulete refers the verb to the model of aderir.^[1][12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. discernir
3. ^ a b c d e f Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. discernir
4. ^ a b Feijó, João de Morais Madureira (1734), Orthographia, ou Arte de escrever, e pronunciar com acerto a lingua portugueza, Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. discernir
5. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. discernir
6. ^ Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. discernir
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ a b Pereira, Bento (1697), Thesouro da lingoa portuguesa, in the 1697 edition of his Prosodia (1st ed. 1647; CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. discernir
10. ^ a b Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. discernir
11. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1789), Diccionario da lingua portugueza composto pelo padre D. Rafael Bluteau, reformado, e accrescentado, 2 vols., Lisboa: Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, p. 1, 441
12. ^ a b c Aulete, Francisco Júlio Caldas, Dicionário contemporâneo da língua portuguesa (1st ed. 1881), online as Aulete Digital, Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, https://aulete.com.br, p. s.v. discernir
13. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. discernere
14. ^ a b Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. discernir
15. ^ Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, revised online edition (2023–) of the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa Contemporânea (2001), https://dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt, p. s.v. discernir
16. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. discernir
17. ^ Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 3189