secern
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
verb
-
(of a gland or follicle) to secrete
-
to distinguish or discriminate
Other Word Forms
- secernment noun
Etymology
Origin of secern
First recorded in 1620–30; from Latin sēcernere, from sē- se- + cernere “to decide, separate, sift” ( discern )
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
At the risk of coming off as condescending, the built-in fanbase for superhero movies have never shown themselves to be particularly secerning.
From The Guardian
The act of secerning; the act of producing from the blood substances different front the blood itself, as bile, saliva.
From Project Gutenberg
There are three sources of animal inactivity; first, the defect of the natural quantity of stimulus on those fibres, which have been accustomed to perpetual stimulus; as the arterial and secerning systems.
From Project Gutenberg
The Circle secerned from the Square; and its area gauged in terms of a triangle common to both.
From Project Gutenberg
And still less is he able to secern the truth from the falsehood, or to weigh the probabilities of conflicting testimony.
From Project Gutenberg
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
