discrete

See also: discrète

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɪsˈkɹiːt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Homophone: discreet
• Rhymes: -iːt

Etymology 1

From Old French discret, from Latin discrētus, past participle of discernō (“divide”), from dis- + cernō (“sift”). Doublet of discreet.

Adjective

discrete (comparative more discrete, superlative most discrete)

1. Separate; distinct; individual; non-continuous.

   a government with three discrete divisions

   • a. 1856, Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Ode, Inscribed to W. H. Channing”, in Poems, 5th edition, Boston: Pillips, Sampson & Co., published 1856, page 120:

     There are two laws discrete, / Not reconciled,— / Law for man, and law for thing; / The last builds town and fleet, / But it runs wild, / And doth the man unking.

   • 1875, George Henry Lewes, “The Problem Stated”, in Problems of Life and Mind, volume II, London: Trübner & Co., page 33:

     But analysis, penetrating beneath the fact of Sense in search of its ideal factors, declares that this mass of marble is something very different from what it appears : its seeming continuity is broken up into discrete molecules, separated from each other as the stars in the Milky Way are separated ; and its seeming homogeneity is resolved into heterogeneous substances, which are themselves in all probability composite.

   • 2017, Adam Rutherford, A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived, The Experiment, →ISBN, pages 254–255:

     It's not that there aren't measurable, quantifiable differences between all these categories we impose upon things, it's just that for the most part they fit not into discrete units, but into a continuum.

2. That can be perceived individually, not as connected to, or part of, something else.
3. (mathematics) Consisting of or permitting only distinct values drawn from a finite, countable set.

   a discrete sum

4. (electrical engineering) Having separate electronic components, such as individual diodes, transistors and resistors, as opposed to integrated circuitry.
5. (audio engineering) Having separate and independent channels of audio, as opposed to multiplexed stereo or quadraphonic, or other multi-channel sound.
6. (topology) Having each singleton subset open: said of a topological space or a topology.
7. Disjunctive; containing a disjunctive or discretive clause.

   "I resign my life, but not my honour" is a discrete proposition.

Usage notes

• Although cognate and identical in the Middle English period, the term has become distinct from discreet.

Antonyms

• continuous
• (electrical engineering): integrated
• (audio engineering): multiplexed

Derived terms

• discrete category
• discrete choice analysis
• discrete component
• discrete Fourier transform
• discrete math
• discrete mathematics
• discrete metric
• discreteness
• discrete set
• discrete-time
• discrete topology
• discrete valuation
• discrete variable
• non-discrete

 

Translations

separate; distinct; individual

• Afrikaans: diskreet
• Bulgarian: отделен (bg) (otdelen)
• Catalan: discret (ca)
• Finnish: erillinen (fi), diskreetti (fi)
• French: distinct (fr)
• German: diskret (de)
• Greek: διακριτός (el) (diakritós),διάκριτος (el) (diákritos)
• Indonesian: diskret
• Italian: distinto (it), separato (it)
• Maori: motumotu
• Navajo: ádaa nátʼíiníí, doo yitʼíinii
• Portuguese: distinguido (pt), distinto (pt), discreto (pt)
• Romanian: distinct (ro)
• Russian: отде́льный (ru) (otdélʹnyj)
• Spanish: discreto (es)
• Tagalog: hiwalay
• Vietnamese: rời rạc (vi)

in mathematics and topology

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 離散／离散 (zh) (lísàn)

• Finnish: diskreetti (fi)
• Indonesian: diskret

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• German: ^{(please verify)} diskret (de), ^{(please verify)} eigenständig (de), ^{(please verify)} einzeln (de), ^{(please verify)} unstetig, ^{(please verify)} separat (de)
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} discreto (it)

Etymology 2

Adjective

discrete (comparative discreter, superlative discretest)

1. Obsolete form of discreet.

Anagrams

• desertic, discreet

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /diˈskre.te/, /diˈskrɛ.te/
• Rhymes: -ete, -ɛte
• Hyphenation: di‧scré‧te, di‧scrè‧te

Adjective

discrete

1. feminine plural of discreto

Anagrams

• credesti

Latin

Participle

discrēte

1. vocative masculine singular of discrētus

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [disˈkre.te]

Adjective

discrete

1. indefinite feminine/neuter plural nominative/accusative of discret