Discern.
Synonyms:
| behold, | discriminate, | observe, | recognize, |
| descry, | distinguish, | perceive, | see. |
What we discern we see apart from all other objects; what we discriminate we judge apart; what we distinguish we mark apart, or recognize by some special mark or manifest difference. We discriminate by real differences; we distinguish by outward signs; an officer is readily distinguished from a common soldier by his uniform. Objects may be dimly discerned at twilight, when yet we can not clearly distinguish one from another. We descry (originally espy) what is difficult to discover. Compare DISCOVER; LOOK.