Discernment

Cf. French. discernement (17th c.)

• 1. a. The act of discerning or perceiving by the intellect; intellectual perception or apprehension.

b. The faculty of discerning; discrimination, judgement; keenness of intellectual perception; penetration, insight.

• 2. The act of distinguishing; a distinction. Obs. (Cf. DISCERN v. 2.)

• 3. Perception by the senses; distinguishing by sight, distinct vision.