discrete
See also: discrète
English
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Etymology
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From Old French discret, from Latin discrētus, past participle of discernō (“divide”), from dis- + cernō (“sift”). Doublet of discreet.
Pronunciation
Adjective
discrete (comparative more discrete, superlative most discrete)
- 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.
- That can be perceived individually and not as connected to, or part of something else.
- (electrical engineering) Having separate electronic components, such as individual diodes, transistors and resisters, as opposed to integrated circuitry.
- (audio engineering) Having separate and independent channels of audio, as opposed to multiplexed stereo or quadraphonic, or other multi-channel sound.
- (topology) Having each singleton subset open: said of a topological space or a topology.
- 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
Translations
Separate; distinct; individual
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Translations to be checked
Anagrams
Italian
Adjective
discrete
- (deprecated template usage) Feminine plural of adjective discreto.
Anagrams
Latin
Participle
(deprecated template usage) discrēte
Romanian
Pronunciation
Noun
discrete
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