dis·crim·i·nate
discriminate
- pronunciation:
- dih
skrI
mih
neIt
- features:
- Word History
| part of speech: |
verb |
| inflections: |
discriminated, discriminates, discriminating |
| definition 1: |
treat someone worse than others because he or she belongs to a particular group of people.
It is illegal to discriminate against people based on their race or sex.
|
| definition 2: |
to see a clear difference.
He could not discriminate between the two brands of soda. |
| derivations: |
discriminated (adj.), discriminately (adv.), discriminator (n.) |
Discriminate comes from a Latin word that means "to divide, separate, or distinquish." It was first used for the separation of people of different colors or races in the mid-1800s.