overwordExplorer
ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

decern.

To decide or determine (a matter disputed or doubtful), with simple object, with infinitive or object clause, or intransitive.

6 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb/dɪˈsɝn/General-American/dɪˈsɜːn/Received-Pronunciation
  1. To decide or determine (a matter disputed or doubtful), with simple object, with infinitive or object clause, or intransitive.

    obsolete · transitive
  2. To decree (something) by judicial sentence. To decree by judicial sentence that something be done.

    intransitive · sometimes · transitive
  3. To decree (something) by judicial sentence. To decree a person etc. to be or to do something by judicial sentence. (in the phrase “to decern in”, obsolete) To mulct in by decree of court.

    intransitive · sometimes · transitive
  4. To discern; to distinguish or separate by differences (things that differ, or one thing from another).

    obsolete · transitive
  5. To discern; to distinguish or separate by differences (things that differ, or one thing from another). To distinguish; to discriminate between.

    intransitive · obsolete · transitive
  6. To see distinctly (with the eyes or the mind); distinguish (an object or fact); discern.

Where this word comes from

First attested in late Middle English circa 1425; from the French décerner, from the Latin dēcernō (“to decide, pronounce a decision”), from dē (“of, from, away from”) + cernō (“to separate, distinguish”), whence the English cern. In Old French, the forms of décerner were frequently conflated with those of descerner, discerner; the two verbs were not clearly distinguished until the 16th century; hence, in English also, decern is found with the sense discern.

FROM WORD TO NAME

Try it on your idea.

decern has 6 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.

decern studiodecern workshello, decern

These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.

Explore the name generator

A word with a source.

Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.