Word.ws English Dictionary

discretive

Syllables: dis·cret·ive/dɪsˈkɹiːt.ɪv/US/dɪsˈkɹit.ɪv/

discretive adjective: marking distinction or separation.

Adjective

discretive (not comparable)

  1. Marking distinction or separation.
    • A like discretive power is exercised in the sphere of each of the senses ; thus it is that the expe- rienced cook judges not only of the "far too much," but of the "much too little" of some one ingredient in the compound upon which the epicure, his master, shall bestow his commendation.1858, Isaac Taylor, The World of Mind: An Elementary Book, page 157
    • Nor can it necessarily move the will to cause the action, as evidenced by the will's ability to choose from among discretive judgments consented to.2004, Keith David Wyma, Crucible of Reason, page 258
  2. Disjunctive with the additional characteristic that the conjoined clauses, while exhibiting a disjunct, are both asserted as true.
    • BUT is a Particle, none more familiar in our Language: and he that ſays it is a diſcretive Conjunction, and that it anſwers Sed in Latin, or Mais in French, thinks he has ſufficiently explained it.1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], “Of Particles”, in An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. […], London: […] Eliz[abeth] Holt, for Thomas Basset, […], →OCLC, book III, § 5, page 229
    • Δαì has generally a discretive or distinctive, often and adversative power.1829, Hendrik Hoogeveen, Hoogeveen's Greek Particles, page 40

Noun

discretive (plural discretives)

  1. A discretive proposition.

Examples of discretive in a sentence

  • The vital power underlies acts of motion, the discretive power underlies generation and growth, and the attractive power assimilates nutrients.2017, David S. Sytsma, Richard Baxter and the Mechanical Philosophers:
  • The coherencey of a discretive proposition depends on the connecton of both parts and their relevancy to one another.1837, S. E. Parker, Logic, Or, The Art of Reasoning Simplified, page 92:

Forms of discretive

pluraldiscretives

Origin of discretive

Learned borrowing from Late Latin discrētīvus. See discrete.

Words formed from discretive

Phrases with discretive

Questions about discretive

What does discretive mean?
Discretive means marking distinction or separation.
How do you use discretive in a sentence?
The vital power underlies acts of motion, the discretive power underlies generation and growth, and the attractive power assimilates nutrients.
What part of speech is discretive?
Discretive can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce discretive?
Discretive is pronounced /dɪsˈkɹiːt.ɪv/ (UK).

Words near discretive in the dictionary

  1. discretisations
  2. discretise
  3. discretised
  4. discretises
  5. discretising
  6. discretive
  7. discretive proposition
  8. discretive propositions
  9. discretively
  10. discretiveness
  11. discretives

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: discretive (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.

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