Dis*cern"ment (?), n. [Cf. F.
discernement.] 1. The act of
discerning.
2. The power or faculty of the mind by which
it distinguishes one thing from another; power of viewing differences
in objects, and their relations and tendencies; penetrative and
discriminate mental vision; acuteness; sagacity; insight; as, the
errors of youth often proceed from the want of
discernment.
Syn. -- Judgment; acuteness; discrimination; penetration;
sagacity; insight. -- Discernment, Penetration,
Discrimination. Discernment is keenness and accuracy of
mental vision; penetration is the power of seeing deeply into
a subject in spite of everything that intercepts the view;
discrimination is a capacity of tracing out minute
distinctions and the nicest shades of thought. A discerning
man is not easily misled; one of a penetrating mind sees a
multitude of things which escape others; a discriminating
judgment detects the slightest differences.
