Dis·cern v. t. [imp. & p. p. Discerned p. pr. & vb. n. Discerning.]
 1. To see and identify by noting a difference or differences; to note the distinctive character of; to discriminate; to distinguish.
    To discern such buds as are fit to produce blossoms.   --Boyle.
    A counterfeit stone which thine eye can not discern from a right stone.   --Robynson (More's Utopia).
 2. To see by the eye or by the understanding; to perceive and recognize; as, to discern a difference.
    And [I] beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding.   --Prov. vii. 7.
    Our unassisted sight . . . is not acute enough to discern the minute texture of visible objects.   --Beattie.
    I wake, and I discern the truth.   --Tennyson.
 Syn: -- To perceive; distinguish; discover; penetrate; discriminate; espy; descry; detect. See Perceive.