discrimination
discrimination Lexical Profile
discrimination Game Scores & Validity
• noun
The unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people, especially on the grounds of race, age, sex, or disability.
"The new legislation aims to protect employees from workplace discrimination."
The recognition and understanding of the difference between one thing and another, or the ability to judge what is of high quality.
"She showed great discrimination in selecting rare manuscripts for the university library."
Word Nuance & Usage
While 'discrimination' predominantly refers to unjust or prejudicial treatment in modern usage, in formal, aesthetic, or scientific contexts it retains its older, positive or neutral meaning of keen discernment and the ability to perceive fine distinctions.
• Rhymes for discrimination
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the mid-17th century from Late Latin discriminatio ('a distinguishing or separating'), from the verb discriminare ('to divide or separate'), derived from crimen ('judgment, verdict, or distinction') and the root cernere ('to sift or discern').