Etymograph

English

discrimination

Discrimination comes from Latin discriminatio ‘separation’, from discrīminō ‘to distinguish (between)’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *krey- ‘to sift, separate, divide’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*krey-1‘to sift, separate, divide’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*krinō1‘to sift, separate’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcernō1‘to distinguish, divide, separate, sift’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdiscernō1‘to separate, set apart, divide, part’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdiscrīmen1‘distinction, difference, discrimination’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdiscrīminō2‘to distinguish (between)’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdiscriminatio3as discrīminātiō‘separation’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1775discrimination3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin discrimino
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin discriminatio
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English discrimination
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1775, Samuel Johnson, A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland - Volume 1: “He who has not made the experiment, or who…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*krey-Wiktionary, Latin discrimino‘to sift, separate, divide’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*krinōWiktionary, Latin discrimino‘to sift, separate’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcernōWiktionary, Latin discrimino‘to distinguish, divide, separate, sift’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdiscernōWiktionary, Latin discrimino‘to separate, set apart, divide, part’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdiscrīmenWiktionary, Latin discrimino‘distinction, difference, discrimination’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdiscrīminōWiktionary, Latin discriminatio‘to distinguish (between)’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdiscriminatioWiktionary, English discriminationas discrīminātiō‘separation’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1775discriminationWiktionary, English discrimination. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1775, Samuel Johnson, A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland - Volume 1: “He who has not made the experiment, or who…”

Formed from discriminate + -ion

Proto-Indo-European *krey- ‘to sift, separate, divide’

…

Latin discernō ‘to separate, set apart, divide, part’

Latin discrīmen ‘distinction, difference, discrimination’

Latin discrīminō ‘to divide, separate, distinguish’

Latin discrīminātus ‘determined’

English discriminate

The story

In English use from the 17th century.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *krey- ‘to sift, separate, divide’

certain, secret, crime, crisis, criminal, critic, critique, riddle, hypocrite, criterion, endocrine, discernible, discernment, rime, excrete, ridder, certitude, criterium, incriminate, incrimination, recrimination, 44 more

through Latin cernō ‘to distinguish, divide, separate, sift’

secretary, discern, excrement, secretion, secrete, excretion, 10 more

through Latin discernō ‘to separate, set apart, divide, part’

discretion, 4 more

Today it means

noun Discernment, the act of discriminating, discerning, distinguishing, noting or perceiving differences between things, with the intent to understand rightly and make correct decisions.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “discrimination”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin discrimino, Latin discriminatio. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *krey- / discrimination

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