discretio

Latin

Etymology

Post-Classical. From discernō (“to separate, divide”) +‎ -tiō (“-tion”, noun suffix).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /disˈkreː.ti.oː/, [d̪ɪs̠ˈkreːt̪ioː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /disˈkret.t͡si.o/, [d̪isˈkrɛt̪ː͡s̪io]

Noun

discrētiō f (genitive discrētiōnis); third declension (post-Classical)

1. separation
   • c. 400 CE, Macrobius, Commentary on the Dream of Scipio
   • 303 CE – 311 CE, Lactantius, Institutiones Divinae 7.12.4
2. difference, distinction
   • c. 500 CE, Palladius, Opus agriculturae 8.4.5
   • c. 390 CE, Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae 17.1.1
3. (Late Latin) discernment, discrimination
   • 405 CE, Jerome, Vulgate 1 Cor..12.10
   • 405 CE, Jerome, Vulgate Hebr..5.14

Inflection

Third-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	discrētiō	discrētiōnēs
genitive	discrētiōnis	discrētiōnum
dative	discrētiōnī	discrētiōnibus
accusative	discrētiōnem	discrētiōnēs
ablative	discrētiōne	discrētiōnibus
vocative	discrētiō	discrētiōnēs

Related terms

• discrētim
• discrētor
• discrētōrium
• discrētus

Descendants

• Catalan: discreció
• English: discretion
• French: discrétion
• Italian: discrezione
• Portuguese: discrição
• Romanian: discreție
• Spanish: discreción

References

• “discretio”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• discretio in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• discretio in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.