Discriminate

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /dɪsˈkɹɪmɪneɪt/

Origin

From Latin discriminatus, past participle of discriminare ("to divide, separate, distinguish"), from discrimen ("a space between, division, separation, distinction"), from discerno ("to divide, separate, distinguish, discern"); see discern, discreet, discrete. Compare crime.

Full definition of discriminate

Verb

1. (intransitive) To make distinctions.Since he was colorblind he was unable to discriminate between the blue and green bottles.
2. (intransitive, construed with against) To make decisions based on prejudice.The law prohibits discriminating against people based on their skin color.
3. (transitive) To set apart as being different; to mark as different; to separate from another by discerning differences; to distinguish.
• BarrowTo discriminate the goats from the sheep.

Usage notes

Due to the strong pejorative connotations of sense of “decide based on prejudice”, care should be taken in using the term in the sense “distinguish, make distinctions”, and this sense is primarily used in formal discourse; synonyms are generally used instead.

Synonyms

• distinguish
• differentiate

Derived terms

Related terms

Adjective

1. Having the difference marked; distinguished by certain tokens.