decern

Meaning

Verb

• decide; determine; decree.
• discern.

Origin

• First attested in late Middle English circa 1425; from the French décerner, from the Latin dēcernō ("I decide, pronounce a decision"), from dē + cernō, 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.