discernible

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word discernible. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word discernible, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say discernible in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word discernible you have here. The definition of the word discernible will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofdiscernible, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.

English

WOTD – 2 December 2015

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle French discernable; spelling changed from -a- to -i- in the 17th century to conform to Latin discernibilis. By surface analysis, discern +‎ -ible.

Pronunciation

Adjective

discernible (comparative more discernible, superlative most discernible)

  1. Possible to discern; detectable or derivable by use of the senses or the intellect.
    There is a discernible performance difference between a Porsche and a Civic.
    • 1821, John Duncan, Duncan's Travels:
      To have demolished and rebuilt the walls, would have been a very costly expedient, and as the least of two evils, the painter's brush was resorted to; here and there however, above some of the windows, the black wreathings of the smoke are still discernible through the white covering.
    • 1908, W B M Ferguson, chapter IV, in Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:
      So this was my future home, I thought! […] Backed by towering hills, the but faintly discernible purple line of the French boundary off to the southwest, a sky of palest Gobelin flecked with fat, fleecy little clouds, it in truth looked a dear little city; the city of one's dreams.
    • 2010, Naomi Oreskes, Erik M. Conway, “Introduction”, in Merchants of Doubt:
      In 1995, the IPCC declared that the human impact on climate was now “discernible.”
    • 2021 December 1, Nigel Harris, “St Pancras and King's Cross: 1947”, in RAIL, number 945, page 36:
      This magnificent picture really stopped me in my tracks when I stumbled across it. I was drawn inexorably and immediately into the compelling detail discernible on this top-quality image.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams

Spanish

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): (Spain) /disθeɾˈnible/
  • IPA(key): (Latin America, Philippines) /diseɾˈnible/
  • Rhymes: -ible
  • Syllabification: dis‧cer‧ni‧ble

Adjective

discernible m or f (masculine and feminine plural discernibles)

  1. discernible

Further reading

Wikious
Boobota
Sagapedia