Discretion

How to spell discretion

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce discretion

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does discretion mean?

1. nounThe freedom or authority to decide something according to one's own judgement.
2. nounThe quality of being careful and tactful so as to avoid embarrassment or revealing private matters.

Discretion in a sentence

• The manager has full discretion over how the budget is spent.

• She handled the delicate complaint with great discretion.

• Whether to grant the refund is left entirely to staff discretion.

• The lawyer assured the client of complete discretion regarding the case.

Where does discretion come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word travels back to the Latin discernere, which literally meant 'to separate apart' or 'to sift', from dis- 'apart' and cernere 'to separate or distinguish'. From that verb came the noun discretio, meaning the act of separating things out, and by extension the mental power of telling one thing from another, that is, good judgement. English took the word in through Old French discrecion in the 1300s, when it carried the sense of careful, sound judgement. The notion of being tactful and keeping confidences grew out of this idea of judging carefully what to say and when. The same cernere root sits inside relatives such as 'discern', 'discreet', and even 'certain', and the spelling keeps the c before the t, giving the unstressed -tion ending that trips writers who expect a simple -shun sound.

How the word is built

• dis- (apart)
• cret (from cernere: to separate, discern)
• -ion (noun of action/state)