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discernment (n.)

1580s, "keenness of intellectual perception, insight, acuteness of judgment;" see discern + -ment. From 1680s as "act of perceiving by the intellect."

Penetration, or insight, goes to the heart of a subject, reads the inmost character, etc. Discrimination marks the differences in what it finds. Discernment combines both these ideas. [Century Dictionary]

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Definitions of discernment from WordNet

discernment (n.)
the cognitive condition of someone who understands;
discernment (n.)
delicate discrimination (especially of aesthetic values);
Synonyms: taste / appreciation / perceptiveness
discernment (n.)
perception of that which is obscure;
Synonyms: perceptiveness
discernment (n.)
the mental ability to understand and discriminate between relations;
Synonyms: sagacity / sagaciousness / judgment / judgement
discernment (n.)
the trait of judging wisely and objectively;
a man of discernment
Synonyms: discretion
From wordnet.princeton.edu