decern

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Etymology

First attested in late Middle English circa 1425; from the French décerner, from the Latin dēcernō (“to decide, pronounce a decision”), from dē (“of, from, away from”) + cernō (“to separate, distinguish”), whence the English cern. In Old French, the forms of décerner were frequently conflated with those of descerner, discerner; the two verbs were not clearly distinguished until the 16th century; hence, in English also, decern is found with the sense discern.

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