discern

/dəˈsʌrn/

/dɪˈsʌn/

Other forms: discerned; discerning; discerns

If you can make out, pick out, or distinguish something, you can discern it. This is a word for recognizing and perceiving things.

Discerning has to do with being able to see or hear something. In a loud room, it can be hard to discern one person's voice. If there's not much light, you'll have trouble discerning the words on a page well enough to read. If you have sloppy handwriting, then it's hard to discern what you wrote. When you can discern something, you can tell what it is; you can identify it.

Definitions of discern

1. verb

   perceive, recognize, or detect with the senses
   synonyms: distinguish, make out, pick out, recognise, recognize, spot, tell apart

   types:

   resolve

   make clearly visible

   discriminate

   distinguish
2. verb

   recognize or perceive the difference
   synonyms: discriminate, know apart

   types:

   subtilize

   mark fine distinctions and subtleties, as among words

   type of:

   differentiate, distinguish, secern, secernate, separate, severalise, severalize, tell, tell apart

   mark as different