Third-person singular present tense of discern; notices or recognizes something, especially something subtle or not obvious.
From Old French discerner, derived from Latin discernere (dis- 'apart' + cernere 'to separate, perceive'). Originally meant to separate by sight.
Discern is one of the few verbs that bridges both physical seeing and mental understanding — you can discern a shape in fog *and* discern someone's true intentions in their words.
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