Discretionary

How to spell discretionary

13 letters · 5 syllables

How to pronounce discretionary

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does discretionary mean?

1. adjectiveAvailable to be used or decided according to someone's own judgement rather than by fixed rules.

Discretionary in a sentence

• The manager has a discretionary budget for staff rewards.

• The bonus is entirely discretionary and depends on yearly performance.

Where does discretionary come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb discernere, meaning 'to separate, distinguish, or perceive clearly', built from dis- 'apart' and cernere 'to sift or separate'. From that verb came the noun discretio, the act of separating one thing from another and, by extension, the good judgement needed to tell things apart. English took 'discretion' from Latin through Old French in the 1300s, where it carried the sense of careful, prudent decision-making. The adjective 'discretionary', meaning 'left to one's own judgement', was assembled later, around the 1700s, by adding the suffix -ary to the noun. The same cernere root that means 'to sift' also gives us 'discern' and 'discreet', which is a useful reminder that the spelling keeps the 'discret-' stem before the -ionary ending rather than slipping into 'discreshunary'.

How the word is built

• discret- (from Latin discretio: separation, judgement)
• -ion (noun)
• -ary (adjective suffix: relating to)