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.