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Webster’s Dictionary (1828)



104 words match “DISCERN”

NASUTNESS n.
Quickness of scent; hence, nice discernment; acuteness. [Obs.] Dr. H. More.
OBSERVABLE a.
Worthy or capable of being observed; discernible; noticeable; remarkable. Sir. T. Browne. The difference is sufficiently observable. Southey. -- Ob*serv"a*ble*ness, n. -- Ob*serv"a*bly, adv.
PENETRATING a.
Acute; discerning; sagacious; quick to discover; as, a penetrating mind.
PENETRATIVE a.
Acute; discerning; sagacious; as, penetrative wisdom. "The penetrative eye." Wordsworth. Led on by skill of penetrative soul. Grainger.
PERCEIVE v.
to apprehend by the mind; to be convinced of by direct intuition; to note; to remark; to discern; to see; to understand. Jesus perceived their wickedness. Matt. xxii. 18. You may, fair lady, Perceive I speak sincerely. Shak. Till we ourselves see it with our own eyes, and perceive it by our own understandings, we are…
PERCEPTIBLE a.
Capable of being perceived; cognizable; discernible; perceivable. With a perceptible blast of the air. Bacon. -- Per*cep"ti*ble*ness, n. -- Per*cep"ti*bly, adv.
PERCEPTION n.
tellect; apperhension by the bodily organs, or by the mind, of what is presented to them; discernment; apperhension; cognition.
PERSPICABLE a.
Discernible. [Obs.] Herbert.
PERSPICACIOUS a.
Fig.: Of acute discernment; keen. -- Per`spi*ca"cious*ly, adv. -- Per`spi*ca"cious*ness, n.
PERSPICACITY n.
The state of being perspicacious; acuteness of sight or of intelligence; acute discernment. Sir T. Browne.
POISE v.
the balance; to weigh. He can not sincerely consider the strength, poise the weight, and discern the evidence. South.
PROMPT a.
n the instant; immediate; as, prompt in obedience or compliance; -- said of persons. Very discerning and prompt in giving orders. Clarendon. Tell him I am prompt To lay my crown at's feet. Shak. Any you, perhaps, too prompt in your replies. Dryden.
QUICK-SIGHTED a.
Having quick sight or acute discernment; quick to see or to discern. Locke. --Quick"-sight`ed*ness, n.
RIDICULOUS a.
ughable; unworthy of serious consideration; as, a ridiculous dress or behavior. Agricola, discerning that those little targets and unwieldy glaives ill pointed would soon become ridiculous against the thrust and close, commanded three Batavian cohorts . . . to draw up and come to handy strokes. Milton.…
ROAST v.
, to roast a potato in ashes. In eggs boiled and roasted there is scarce difference to be discerned. BAcon.
SAGACIOUS a.
Hence, of quick intellectual perceptions; of keen penetration and judgment; discerning and judicious; knowing; far-sighted; shrewd; sage; wise; as, a sagacious man; a sagacious remark. Instinct . . . makes them, many times, sagacious above our apprehension. Dr. H. More. Only sagacious heads light on these observations,…
SAGACITY n.
The quality of being sagacious; quickness or acuteness of sense perceptions; keenness of discernment or penetration with soundness of judgment; shrewdness. Some [brutes] show that nice sagacity of smell. Cowper. Natural sagacity improved by generous education. V. Knox.
SAGE a.
Having nice discernment and powers of judging; prudent; grave; sagacious. All you sage counselors, hence! Shak.
SAPIENT a.
Wise; sage; discerning; -- often in irony or contempt. Where the sapient king Held dalliance with his fair Egyptian spouse. Milton.
SATISFACTIVE a.
Satisfactory. [Obs.] Satisfactive discernment of fish. Sir T. Browne.
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