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Satisfactory. [Obs.] Satisfactive discernment of fish. Sir T. Browne.

f the human race, scope is given to the operation of laws which man must always fail to discern the reasons of. I. Taylor. Excuse me if I have given too much scope to the reflections which have arisen in my mind. Burke. An intellectual cultivation of no moderate depth or scope. Hawthorne.

The power of discerning what is not visible to the physical eye, or of foreseeing future events, esp. such as are of a disastrous kind; the capacity of a seer; prophetic vision. he was seized with a fit of second-sight. Addison. Nor less availed his optic sleight, And Scottish gift of second- sight. Trumbull.…

mental vision; to form an idea or conception of; to note with the mind; to observe; to discern; to distinguish; to understand; to comprehend; to ascertain. Go, I pray thee, see whether it be well with thy brethren. Gen. xxxvii. 14. Jesus saw that he answered discreetly. Mark xii. 34. Who 's so gross That seeth not thi…

Perception through the intellect; apprehension; recognition; understanding; discernment; appreciation. This Basilius, having the quick sense of a lover. Sir P. Sidney. High disdain from sense of injured merit. Milton.

Of keen perception; quick to discern or distinguish; having nice discrimination; acute; penetrating; sagacious; clever; as, a sharp eye; sharp sight, hearing, or judgment. Nothing makes men sharper . . . than want. Addison. Many other things belong to the material world, wherein the sharpest philosophers have never yeL…

Having an acute or nicely discerning mind.

erformance, or in the application of the art or science to practical purposes; power to discern and execute; ability to perceive and perform; expertness; aptitude; as, the skill of a mathematician, physician, surgeon, mechanic, etc. Phocion, . . . by his great wisdom and skill at negotiations, diverted Alexander from t…

Discerning; reasonable; judicious; cunning. [Obs.] "Of skillful judgment." Chaucer.

Characterized by nicety of discrimination; discerning; delicate; refined; subtle. [In this sense now commonly written subtle.] The genius of the Spanish people is exquisitely subtile, without being at all acute; hence there is so much humor and so little wit in their literature. The genius of the Italians, on the contr…

Nice discernment with delicacy of mental action; nicety of discrimination.

Sensitive mental touch; peculiar skill or faculty; nice perception or discernment; ready power of appreciating and doing what is required by circumstances. He had formed plans not inferior in grandeur and boldness to those of Richelieu, and had carried them into effect with a tact and wariness worthy of Mazarin. Macaul…

Full of tact; characterized by a discerning sense of what is right, proper, or judicious.

The power of perceiving and relishing excellence in human performances; the faculty of discerning beauty, order, congruity, proportion, symmetry, or whatever constitutes excellence, particularly in the fine arts and belles-letters; critical judgment; discernment.

Able to discern objects at a distance; farseeing; far-reaching; as, a telescopic eye; telescopic vision.

To discern so as to report; to ascertain by observing; to find out; to discover; as, I can not tell where one color ends and the other begins.

metal overlaid with a thin coating of gold or silver, brass foil, or the like. Who can discern the tinsel from the gold Dryden.

The act of one who understands a thing, in any sense of the verb; knowledge; discernment; comprehension; interpretation; explanation.

Lacking discernment; injudicious; ignorant. Though it make the unskillful laugh, can not but make the judicious grieve. Shak. -- Un*skill"ful*ly, adv. -- Un*skill"ful*ness, n.

o move vibratingly; to cause to vibrate, as a part of the body; as, to wag the head. No discerner durst wag his tongue in censure. Shak. Every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and wag his head. Jer. xviii. 16.