From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishdiscerndi‧scern /dɪˈsɜːn $ -ɜːrn/ ●○○ verb [transitive] formal 1 LOOK ATTHINK ABOUTto notice or understand something by thinking about it carefullydiscern what/where/why etc Officials were keen to discern how much public support there was.► see thesaurus at recognize2 to be able to see something by looking carefully SYN perceive We could just discern a town in the distance. —discernible adjective —discernibly adverbGRAMMAR: Usign the progressiveDiscern is not used in the progressive. You say: I discern a slight difference. ✗Don’t say: I am discerning a slight difference.→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
discern• Politicians are good at discerning public opinion.• Then, discerning an unfilled need, he started a cigar-box company in the heart of the Southern Ontario tobacco fields.• There are many other issues where this same pattern can be discerned.• The wish to discern a framework for the Earth itself is something which dates back at least to the time of Ptolemy.• Only a few large, blotchy markings could be discerned by telescopic observers.• Lucas claims that such a relationship can be discerned in his data.• The telescope can discern objects incredibly distant in space.• The study of structure and function will to some extent discern similarities of process in these movements.• Presently, Cleo was able to discern the rattle of gentle snoring coming from the adjoining room.• Two distinct trends may be discerned, though the same writer may work in both conventions.discern what/where/why etc• From what you've seen as both founder and trustee, can you discern where art-philanthropy might be heading?• He was still quite unable to discern what the bequest could possibly be, let alone whether it was of any value.• I could not see far enough to discern what the far gym contained.Origin discern (1300-1400) Latin discernere “to separate”, from cernere “to sift” 