discrimination
Part of speech: noun
Morphological type: derivation
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.
Base: discriminate
Affixes: -ion
Inflected forms:
form: discriminations
pos: noun
tags: plural
Senses:
gloss: Discernment, the act of discriminating, discerning, distinguishing, noting or perceiving differences between things, with the intent to understand rightly and make correct decisions.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: 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?
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.
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.
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.
gloss: 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.
pos: noun
tags: countable
sometimes
uncountable
examples: sexual or racial discrimination
reverse discrimination
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.
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.
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?
Many sincere white people in the South privately oppose segregation and discrimination, but they are apprehensive lest they be publicly condemned.
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.
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.
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.
gloss: The quality of being discriminating; acute discernment, especially in matters of good taste.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
examples: Near-synonym: tastefulness
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.”
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.
These differences amount to a discrimination by the animal in favour of calcium and against strontium and barium.
In the vocabulary of Madison Avenue, the man of discrimination is one who knows a fine set of luggage when he sees it.
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.
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.
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.
gloss: That which discriminates; a distinguishing mark, a characteristic.
pos: noun
tags: countable
obsolete
examples: 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.
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.
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?
The great discriminations of land are three, and it concerns us to know whether it is poor, or rich, or in a middle state.
Related words: stereotype
bias
racism
Derived words: antidiscrimination
counterdiscrimination
enantiodiscrimination
facial discrimination
indiscrimination
non-discrimination
nondiscrimination
positive discrimination
price discrimination
reverse discrimination
self-discrimination
self discrimination
underdiscrimination
Translations: