Dictionary

discrimination en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /dɪˌskɹɪm.əˈneɪʃən/ (Canada, General-American)
• /dɪskɹɪmɪˈneɪʃən/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (Southern-England) audio
• /dɪskɹɪm.əˈnæɪʃən/ (Australia)

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin discrīminātiō, discrīminātiōnem, the action noun to discrīminō, discrīmināre (“distinguish”). Equivalent to discriminate + -ion. In English use from the 17th century.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) Discernment, the act of discriminating, discerning, distinguishing, noting or perceiving differences between things, with the intent to understand rightly and make correct decisions.
   • An earthquake here rolls harmless through the land, And Thou art good because the chimneys stand— There templed cities sink into the sea, And damp survivors, howling as they flee, Skip to the hills and hold a celebration In honor of Thy wise discrimination. 1892, Ambrose Bierce, Black Beetles in Amber:
   • The 'pretraining' for the two-choice discrimination involved a discrimination between angles differing by 19° (6° versus 25°) in which the smaller angle was marked with a 2 cm Plexiglas square that the bats had previously detected in a simple one-choice discrimination. 1989, Karen Ann Campbell, Mechanisms of Prey-tracking in the Echolocating Bat, page 71:
   • In place of a discrimination box a jumping apparatus was used, and apparently this required performance less foreign to the natural response repertory of the bird. 1950, Lyle Vincent Jones, Analysis of Visual Discrimination Learning by Pigeons, page 14:
   • Have you felt the weight of the considerations which have been presented, in order to show the importance of discrimination on the subject of revealed truth? 1846, Henry Hollis, Christian Discrimination; Or, A Discourse on the Things in Religion which Differ, page 86:
2. (countable, sometimes, uncountable, with "against") Differential treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage; treatment or consideration based on class or category rather than individual merit; partiality; prejudice; bigotry.
   • The book also presents empirical results from studies of discrimination across the world to show the magnitude of the problem and the difficulties of comparison across national borders. 2021, Rosita Fibbi, Arnfinn H. Midtbøen, Patrick Simon, Migration and Discrimination:
   • The four Gospels were written by men, but they never report any instance of Jesus’ condoning sexual discrimination or the implied subservience or inferiority of women. 2014, Jimmy Carter, “The Bible and Gender Equality”, in A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence, and Power, Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 23:
   • reverse discrimination
   • Due to severe and pervasive discrimination, people dared not be open about their homosexuality, and because no one would be open, social prejudice and discrimination became even stronger. 2001, Xiaopei He, “Chinese Queer (Tongzhi) Women Organizing in the 1990s”, in Ping-Chun Hsiung, Maria Jaschok, Cecilia Milwertz, Red Chan, editors, Chinese Women Organizing: Cadres, Feminists, Muslims, Queers, Berg, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 41:
   • The same arguments, however, which have effectually in this State [Rhode Island] maintained the disfranchisement of naturalized citizens, may prevail in those cases in which the State Constitution makes the discrimination against colored persons, as long as those State Constitutions remain in force. 1865 June 17, William Beach Lawrence, “The Suffrage Question”, in National Anti-Slavery Standard, volume XXVI, number 6, New York, page 1, column 6:
   • The state, in the exercise of its general power to prescribe rules of evidence, may provide that proof of a particular fact, or of several facts taken collectively, shall be prima facie evidence of another fact when there is some rational connection between the fact proved and the ultimate fact presumed. The legislative presumption is invalid when it is entirely arbitrary, or creates an invidious discrimination, or operates to deprive a party of a reasonable opportunity to present the pertinent facts in his defense. 1931, Bandini Petroleum Co. v. Superior Court, 284 U.S. 8, 18–19
   • However, is it not true that within the preferred or official territory there are certain discriminations? For instance, are there not certain States in New England that suffer from certain discriminations, in comparison with other States in that official territory? 1939, United States. U.S. Congress. Senate. Committee on interstate commerce, Freight-rate Discriminations, page 49:
   • sexual or racial discrimination
   • Many sincere white people in the South privately oppose segregation and discrimination, but they are apprehensive lest they be publicly condemned. 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr., “Transformed Nonconformist”, in Strength to Love, New York: Pocket Books, published 1964, →OCLC, page 13:
3. (uncountable) The quality of being discriminating; acute discernment, especially in matters of good taste.
   • These differences amount to a discrimination by the animal in favour of calcium and against strontium and barium. 1963, David Paton Cuthbertson, Progress in Nutrition and Allied Sciences, page 238:
   • Take heed, then, lest, while you plume yourselves on your superior wisdom and discrimination, the Great Captain does not arraign you before his court-martial on the charge of blood-guiltiness. 1881, C. F. Hull, Shadows of good things to come; or, the gospel in Ruth, page 42:
   • Among those who are purified by their good deeds, there are four kinds of men who worship me: the world-weary, the seeker for knowledge, the seeker for happiness and the man of spiritual discrimination. The man of discrimination is the highest of these. 2019, Rick South, The Odes of God:
   • Furthermore, holding the view that the jhānas are in conflict with discrimination and wisdom, one might argue that this quality cannot be developed and sustained when one attains the jhānas. 2017, Keren Arbel, Early Buddhist Meditation, page 106:
   • You are a man of discrimination,” said Qunk, “I admire that girl a little myself, and, entre nous, I think that I'm a bit of a favourite in that quarter.” 1863, Alfred Gladstone, The Man of the Hour: A Tale of Real Life - Volume 2, page 128:
   • If taste is, in Sibleyan terms, an ability involving perceptiveness, sensitivity, discrimination and appreciation, this suggests that it should be directed towards a certain set of objects, and that there is clear room for error and critical debate: about which objects—and which responses—are in fact correct, and which provide evidence of the presence of tasteful discrimination. 2018, Jane Forsey, On Taste: Aesthetic Exchanges, page viii:
   • Near-synonym: tastefulness
   • In the vocabulary of Madison Avenue, the man of discrimination is one who knows a fine set of luggage when he sees it. 1996, Eknath Easwaran, Seeing with the Eyes of Love, page 106:
4. (countable, obsolete) That which discriminates; a distinguishing mark, a characteristic.
   • He who has not made the experiment, or who is not accustomed to require rigorous accuracy from himself, will scarcely believe how much a few hours take from certainty of knowledge, and distinctness of imagery; how the succession of objects will be broken, how separate parts will be confused, and how many particular features and discriminations will be compressed and conglobated into one gross and general idea. 1775, Samuel Johnson, A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland - Volume 1, page 239:
   • These seem to me their most obvious and striking causes, and certainly sufficient to distinguish them from each other: but let the most acute metaphysician, place in one point of view whatever may, in any way, mark the nice boundaries which separate them from each other, and then let his discriminations be compared, for clear, and strongly marked difference and opposition, with those I have stated to exist between the beautiful, and the picturesque; and if his discriminations are not more clear, and more strongly marked, but on the contrary much less so, why should they have a power, which is denied to mine? 1796, Sir Uvedale Price, An Essay on the Picturesque, page 236:
   • But even if this difference should be still greater, it could never be admitted as forming a specific distinction. For the horns not only differ in individuals of the same species, but in the same individuals at different ages. If we were to attempt to arrange animals solely by their horns, the discriminations would be as endless as uncertain. 1789, William Coxe, “Letter 41”, in Travels in Switzerland: In a Series of Letters to William Melmoth, Esq. from William Coxe, […] In Three Volumes […] , page 52:
   • The great discriminations of land are three, and it concerns us to know whether it is poor, or rich, or in a middle state. 1800, Marcus Terentius Varro, The Three Books of M. Terentius Varro Concerning Agriculture, page 50:

Forms

Deriveds

self-discrimination · positive discrimination · self discrimination · price discrimination · antidiscrimination · enantiodiscrimination · non-discrimination · underdiscrimination · reverse discrimination · nondiscrimination · counterdiscrimination · facial discrimination · indiscrimination

Descendants

diskriminesen

Hyponyms

ageism · homophobia · xenophobia · sexism · heterosexism · racism · religionism · classism · ableism

Relateds

racism · stereotype · bias

Synonyms

differentiation · tastefulness

Translations (125)

my ပိုင်းခြားခြင်း (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · id diskriminasi (the act of making a distinction, noting differences between things) · tl diskriminasyon (the act of making a distinction, noting differences between things) · sk diskriminácia (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · sq diskriminim (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · sv diskriminering (the act of making a distinction, noting differences between things) · ca discriminació (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · nl discriminatie (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · pl dyskryminacja (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · ms diskriminasi (the act of making a distinction, noting differences between things) · ka დისკრიმინაცია (the act of making a distinction, noting differences between things) · he אַפְלָיָה (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · tk diskriminasiýa (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · yue 歧視 /歧视 (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · th การเลือกปฏิบัติ (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · cmn 區別 /区别 (the act of making a distinction, noting differences between things) · hu megkülönböztetés (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · th การกีดกัน (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · nl discriminatie (the act of making a distinction, noting differences between things) · is mismunun (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · gv foayr (the act of making a distinction, noting differences between things) · ko 구별 (the act of making a distinction, noting differences between things) · yi דיסקרימינאַציע (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · hu hátrányos megkülönböztetés (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · vi phân biệt đối xử (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · sv diskriminering (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · de Schlechterstellung (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · bn বৈষম্য (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · nn rasediskriminering (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · de Diskriminierung (the act of making a distinction, noting differences between things) · zdj uɓanguzi (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · az diskriminasiya (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · lt diskriminacija (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · nb rasediskriminering (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · it discriminazione (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · da diskrimination (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · kk кемсітушілік (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · es discrimen (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · ky дискриминация (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · uz diskriminatsiya (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · hi विभेदन (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · ko 차별 (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · es discriminación (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · nb diskriminering (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · es discriminación (the act of making a distinction, noting differences between things) · cs diskriminace (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · bg разграниче́ние (the act of making a distinction, noting differences between things) · ja 冷遇 (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · ru разграниче́ние (the act of making a distinction, noting differences between things) · mk дискриминација (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · ml വിവേചനം (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · nn diskriminering (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · nb diskriminering (the act of making a distinction, noting differences between things) · lv diskriminācija (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · fi erottelu (the act of making a distinction, noting differences between things) · ar تَفْرِيق (the act of making a distinction, noting differences between things) · tr ayrımcılık (the act of making a distinction, noting differences between things) · tg табъиз (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · mi toihara (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · fr discrimination (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · fi syrjintä (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · ja 差別 (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · oc discriminacion (the act of making a distinction, noting differences between things) · ka განსხვავებულად მოპყრობა (the act of making a distinction, noting differences between things) · ja 区別 (the act of making a distinction, noting differences between things) · cs rozlišování (the act of making a distinction, noting differences between things) · uz kamsitish (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · mn ялгаварлан гадуурхалт (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · ro discriminare (the act of making a distinction, noting differences between things) · ru распознава́ние (the act of making a distinction, noting differences between things) · fr discrimination (the act of making a distinction, noting differences between things) · ckb دووچاوەکی (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · my ခွဲခြားဆက်ဆံခြင်း (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · gl discriminación (the act of making a distinction, noting differences between things) · af diskriminasie (the act of making a distinction, noting differences between things) · gl discriminación (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · gd leth-bhreith (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · es discrimen (the act of making a distinction, noting differences between things) · eo diskriminacio (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · pl rozróżnienie (the act of making a distinction, noting differences between things) · sdh دِبەێنەکی (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · da diskriminering (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · hu diszkrimináció (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · nan-hbl 歧視 /歧视 (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · nl onderscheid (the act of making a distinction, noting differences between things) · pt discriminação (the act of making a distinction, noting differences between things) · nn diskriminering (the act of making a distinction, noting differences between things) · ps تبعيض (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · bg дискримина́ция (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · cmn 歧視 /歧视 (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · ro discriminare (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · de Unterscheidung (the act of making a distinction, noting differences between things) · oc discriminacion (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · be дыскрыміна́цыя (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · sh дискриминација (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · pt discriminação (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · ml വിവേചനം (the act of making a distinction, noting differences between things) · hi भेदभाव (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · hy խտրականություն (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · tpi daunim narapela (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · tl diskriminasyon (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · tg дискриминатсия (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · et diskrimineerimine (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · km ការរើសអើង (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · hu kirekesztés (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · de Diskriminierung (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · uk дискриміна́ція (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · ug كەمسىتىش (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · ka დისკრიმინაცია (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · tpi pasin bilong bagarapim narapela man o meri (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · xal шоодвр (the act of making a distinction, noting differences between things) · af diskriminasie (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · tpi diskriminesen (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · sl diskriminacija (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · ar تَمْيِيز (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · ru дискримина́ция (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · vi kì thị (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · id diskriminasi (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · ro diferențiere (the act of making a distinction, noting differences between things) · sdh دِچەوەکی (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · sh diskriminacija (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · az ayrıseçkilik (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · tr ayrımcılık (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · ms diskriminasi (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage) · fa تبعیض (distinct treatment of an individual or group to their disadvantage)