See more synonyms for discrete on Thesaurus.com- apart or detached from others; separate; distinct: six discrete parts.
- consisting of or characterized by distinct or individual parts; discontinuous.
- Mathematics.
- (of a topology or topological space) having the property that every subset is an open set.
- defined only for an isolated set of points: a discrete variable.
- using only arithmetic and algebra; not involving calculus: discrete methods.
Origin of discrete
1350–1400; Middle English <
Latin discrētus separated; see
discreet Related formsdis·crete·ly, adverbdis·crete·ness, nounDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for discrete
Contemporary Examples of discrete
At this point, the output becomes the digital, discrete signal.
It was carried out over a period of a little more than two years in four discrete, limited-time operations.
The Executive is elected in broad national elections in which discrete and insular minorities carry less weight.
Looking at New York City as a discrete economic unit can be misleading.
Instead, like Israel, the rest of the world ought make measured judgments about discrete threats beyond its borders.
Historical Examples of discrete
Moreover, it is a discrete quantity for its parts have no common boundary.
It replaces the world of the continuum by a world of discrete states.
As to number (which is discrete quantity), it is something posterior.
The manor of the eastern counties is a discrete, a dissipated thing.
What discrete succession of images did Stephen meanwhile perceive?
British Dictionary definitions for discrete- separate or distinct in form or concept
- consisting of distinct or separate parts
- statistics
- (of a variable) having consecutive values that are not infinitesimally close, so that its analysis requires summation rather than integration
- (of a distribution) relating to a discrete variableCompare continuous (def. 4)
Word Origin for discrete
C14: from Latin discrētus separated, set apart; see discreet
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for discrete
adj.late 14c., see discreet. Related: Discretely.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
discrete
(dĭ-skrēt′)- Not joined to or incorporated with another; separate; distinct.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
