discriminate

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb

To make distinctions.
To treat or affect differently, depending on differences in traits.
To make decisions harmful to (a person or group) based on prejudice.
To infringe upon (a person's rights) in a prejudicial manner.
To set apart as being different; to mark as different; to separate from another by discerning differences; to distinguish.

adj

Having its differences marked; distinguished by certain tokens.

Pronunciation

/dɪˈskɹɪm.ɪ.neɪt/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-discriminate.wav /dɪˈskɹɪm.əˌneɪt/ /dɪˈskɹɪm.əˌnæɪt/ /dɪˈskɹɪm.ɪ.nət/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-discriminate2.wav

Word forms

discriminate discriminates discriminating discriminated more discriminate most discriminate

Etymology

First attested in 1615; borrowed from Latin discrīminātus, perfect passive participle of discrīminō (“to divide, separate, distinguish”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from discrīmen (“a space between, division, separation, distinction”), from discernō (“to divide, separate, distinguish, discern”).

Synonyms

differentiate distinguish disfavor

Antonyms

favor

Related words

crime discern discreet discrete

Derived words

discrimination discriminative discriminator discriminatory price discriminate undiscriminated discriminately discriminateness indiscriminate nondiscriminate

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.

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