di ‧ scern /dɪˈsɜːn $ -ɜːrn/ BrE AmE verb [transitive not in progressive] formal
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: Latin ; Origin: discernere 'to separate' , from cernere 'to sift' ]
1 . to notice or understand something by thinking about it carefully
discern what/where/why etc
Officials were keen to discern how much public support there was.
2 . to be able to see something by looking carefully SYN perceive :
We could just discern a town in the distance.
—discernible adjective
—discernibly adverb
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THESAURUS
▪ recognize to know who someone is or what something is, especially because you have seen or heard them before:
I hadn’t seen her for ten years, but I recognized her immediately.
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Do you recognize this song?
▪ identify to recognize someone or something and say who or what they are:
As they came closer, I was able to identify two of the group.
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It’s delicious but I can’t quite identify the taste.
▪ distinguish to recognize and understand the difference between two or more things or people:
By this age, kids can usually distinguish between right and wrong.
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It’s often difficult to distinguish identical twins from each other.
▪ make something/somebody out to be able to see or hear something or someone – used when it is very difficult to do this:
In the distance, I could just make out the outline of an island.
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He whispered something but I couldn’t make out what it was.
▪ discern /dɪˈsɜːn $ -ɜːrn/ formal to notice or understand something by looking carefully or thinking about it carefully:
I thought I discerned a faint gleam of hope in his eyes.
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A number of differences can be discerned in the data for the three countries.