What does discrimination mean?
Discrimination is a noun with two principal meanings. Its dominant modern sense is the unjust or prejudicial treatment of people because they belong to a particular category — defined by race, sex, age, religion, disability, or similar characteristics. In this sense it carries strongly negative connotations and appears constantly in legal, political, and everyday contexts: anti-discrimination laws, workplace discrimination, and victims of racial discrimination are all standard collocations. A second, older sense survives chiefly in formal writing: the ability to perceive and appreciate fine distinctions, as when a critic exercises great discrimination in judging art. Both senses descend from Latin discriminare, 'to divide or distinguish', so the word's core idea is drawing boundaries between things — whether between people, unjustly, or between subtle qualities, expertly. Speakers should be aware that without a qualifying adjective, 'discrimination' today almost always means unfair treatment, and using it for mere discernment may cause confusion.
nounThe unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people, especially on the grounds of race, age, sex, or disability; also, the ability to perceive and distinguish fine differences between things.
- Unjust or prejudicial treatment of people based on characteristics such as race, gender, age, religion, or disability.
- The ability to recognize and make fine distinctions between things; discernment (often in phrases like 'with great discrimination').
"She filed a complaint after experiencing discrimination at work because of her age."
"Laws banning workplace discrimination have been strengthened over the past few decades."
"A connoisseur chooses wine with real discrimination."
Rarely used in the plural; the singular is standard even when referring to multiple instances, which are usually described as 'acts of discrimination'.
"Historians documented the many discriminations faced by immigrant communities."
The word 'discrimination' was once a compliment — a person of 'fine discrimination' had excellent taste — until the twentieth century gave it its darker, dominant meaning.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of discrimination
Discrimination comes from the Latin verb discriminare, meaning to divide, separate, or distinguish, itself derived from discrimen, a dividing point or distinction. It entered English in the early seventeenth century, initially carrying the neutral sense of perceiving differences. The pejorative sense of treating people unfairly on the basis of group membership developed later, becoming firmly established in American English during the nineteenth century in connection with race and cemented by the civil-rights era. It shares its root with words such as discern and discreet, all pointing back to the idea of separating one thing from another.
Related word forms
How discrimination is actually used
In modern usage the negative social sense overwhelmingly dominates, especially in legal, political, and journalistic contexts. The older neutral sense — keen discernment — survives mainly in formal writing and is usually signalled by modifiers such as 'great' or 'fine'. In British English it is frequently discussed in terms of protected characteristics under equality law; in American English, civil-rights framing is equally common.
Easily confused with discrimination
Discernment refers to good judgement in perceiving differences, while discrimination can mean either that same skill of distinguishing or, far more commonly today, unjust treatment based on group membership.