discrete

See also: discrète

English

Etymology

(deprecated template usage)

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɪsˈkɹiːt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Homophone: discreet
• Rhymes: -iːt

Adjective

discrete (comparative more discrete, superlative most discrete)

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

   a government with three discrete divisions

   • a. 1856, Ralph Walso 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 and not as connected to, or part of something else.
3. (electrical engineering) Having separate electronic components, such as individual diodes, transistors and resisters, as opposed to integrated circuitry.
4. (audio engineering) Having separate and independent channels of audio, as opposed to multiplexed stereo or quadraphonic, or other multi-channel sound.
5. (topology) Having each singleton subset open: said of a topological space or a topology.
6. Disjunctive; containing a disjunctive or discretive clause.

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

Usage notes

• Often confused with discreet.

Antonyms

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

Derived terms

• discrete variable
• discreteness

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)
• Italian: distinto (it), separato (it)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• 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)

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)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} discreto (it)

Anagrams

• desertic, discreet

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Italian

Adjective

discrete

1. (deprecated template usage) Feminine plural of adjective discreto.

Anagrams

• credesti

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Latin

Participle

(deprecated template usage) discrēte

1. vocative masculine singular of discrētus

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Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [disˈkre.te]

Noun

discrete

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