Discerno, discernis, discréui, discrêtum, pen. prod. discérnere. Plin. To part one thing from an other: to striue or varie: to knowe distinetly: to iudge: to discerne: to determine.Litem discernere.Virg.To end or determine a controuersie.Tumultum veterem discreuit. Claud. To appease or ende an olde discorde. Discernere. Cæsar. Cic.To distincte and discerne one thing from an other.Alba & atra discernere. Cice. To separate white and blacke, to discerne betwene, &c.Alium ab alio.Cic. Diem & noctem cælo. Virg.Fas atque nefas. Hor. To discerne or put difference betwene.Discernere vtra pars iustiorem habeat causam. Cæsar. To iudge whether part hath, &c.Discernere stultum sapiente.Cicer.To discerne or put difference betweene a foole and a wise man. Discernere armis.To fight or try by battalle.
Lewis and Short: Latin dictionary
dis-cerno, crēvi, crētum, 3, v. a., to separate, set apart.I.Lit., to separate, part, divide (freq. since the Aug. per.): equas, ne inter se pugnare possint, Varr. R. R. 2, 7, 10: ordines (preceded by senatus a populo secretus), Liv. 34, 54: lignum a carnibus, Plin. 13, 4, 7, 33: Lusitaniam a Baetica, id. 4, 21, 35, 116: neque mons erat, qui fines eorum discerneret, i. e.
to mark out, determine
, Sall. J. 79, 3; cf. poet.: (saxum) telas auro,
to interweave with gold
, Verg. A. 4, 264; 11, 75: haec ipsa fortuna huc illucve discernit,
divides, distributes
, Cels. 7, 3.—In the part. perf., divided, separated: duae urbes, magno inter se spatio discretae, Liv. 27, 39 fin.; cf.: Peraea a ceteris Judaeis Jordane amne, Plin. 5, 14, 15, 70: Philippus mari tantum Ionio discretus, Liv. 23, 33; so, sol tanto intervallo, Plin. 2, 11, 8, 50: uxor velo, id. Ep. 4, 19, 3: ager saxo, Stat. Th. 5, 559: decurias pluribus nominibus, Plin. 33, 2, 7, 31 et saep.— Of the hair, parted: discretaque collo Caesaries, Grat. Cyn. 272: divisa discretaque tellus,
divided and separated
, Lucr. 5, 1441: tellus (opp. permixta), id. 691: ubi discretas insula rumpit aquas, Ov. F. 2, 194: sedes piorum,
set apart, retired
, Hor. C. 2, 13, 23: quae cum sint turpissima discreta ac separata, turpius junguntur, Plin. Ep. 2, 6 fin.: septem discretus in ostia Nilus, Ov. M. 5, 324 (for which: septem digestum in cornua Nilum, id. ib. 9, 774); cf. Quint. 7, 1, 1.II.Trop.A.To separate things according to their different qualities, to distinguish between, discern (freq. and class.): alba et atra, Cic. Tusc. 5, 39, 114: discernere et dispicere insidiatorem et petitum insidiis, Liv. 40, 10: jus et injuriam, Tac. A. 2, 66: probanda atque improbanda, Quint. 2, 2, 11: fas atque nefas, Hor. C. 1, 18, 11 et saep.: id quod visum erit a falso, Cic. Ac. 2, 8, 25: pantheras a pardis solo candore, Plin. 8, 17, 23, 63 et saep.: verba discerni articulatim, Lucr. 4, 555: suos, Caes. B. G. 7, 75: piceam visu, Plin. 16, 10, 18, 40: temperantiam duobus modis, Cic. Part. Or. 22, 77 et saep.: animus discernit, quid sit ejusdem generis, quid alterius, id. Univ. 8: pecuniae an famae minus parceret haud facile dis cerneres, Sall. C. 25, 3; so with an, Tac. A. 5, 6; id. H. 3, 28; Suet. Calig. 25; cf.: nec discernatur, jussu injussu imperatoris pugnent, Liv. 8, 34 fin.—B.To determine, settle: limes agro positus litem ut discerneret arvis, Verg. A. 12, 898: discerne causam meam, Vulg. Psa. 42, 1.—C.To except, omit, Amm. 14, 8, 7.—Hence, 1. discernen-ter, adv., with a distinction, Cael. Aur. Tard. 1, 4, no. 81.—2. discrētim, adv., separately, distinctly, App. M. 6, p. 173: singillatim ac discretim, id. Flor. 9, p. 347: adoriri, Amm. 29, 6: tradi, id. 28, 1; Hilar. in Psa. 138, 23.