Word.ws English Dictionary

decern

UK/dɪˈsɜːn/US/dɪˈsɝn/

decern verb: to decide or determine (a matter disputed or doubtful), with simple object, with infinitive or object clause, or intransitive.

Verb

decern (third-person singular simple present decerns, present participle decerning, simple past and past participle decerned)

  1. (obsolete, transitive) To decide or determine (a matter disputed or doubtful), with simple object, with infinitive or object clause, or intransitive.
  2. (intransitive, sometimes, transitive, Scots law) To decree by judicial sentence that something be done.
  3. (intransitive, sometimes, transitive, Scots law) 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.
    • He purſued Andrew Houſtoun upon his promiſe, to give him the like Sallary for the next year, and in abſence obtained him to be holden as confeſt and Decerned.1668 July 3rd, James Dalrymple, “Thomas Rue contra Andrew Houſtoun” in The Deciſions of the Lords of Council & Seſſion I (Edinburgh, 1683), pages 547–548
  4. (obsolete, transitive) To discern; to distinguish or separate by differences (things that differ, or one thing from another).
    1. (intransitive, obsolete, transitive) To distinguish; to discriminate between.
  5. To see distinctly (with the eyes or the mind); distinguish (an object or fact); discern.

Forms of decern

third-person singular presentdecerns
present participledecerning
past participledecerned
pastdecerned

Origin of decern

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.

Words formed from decern

Questions about decern

What does decern mean?
Decern means to decide or determine (a matter disputed or doubtful), with simple object, with infinitive or object clause, or intransitive.
What part of speech is decern?
Decern is a verb.
How do you pronounce decern?
Decern is pronounced /dɪˈsɝn/ (US).
What is the past tense of decern?
The past tense of decern is decerned.

Words near decern in the dictionary

  1. decerebrise
  2. decerebrize
  3. decerebrized
  4. decerebrizes
  5. decerebrizing
  6. decern
  7. decerned
  8. decerneth
  9. decerning
  10. decerniture
  11. decernitures

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: decern (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “decern.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/decern. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.