Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Discernment \Dis*cern"ment\, n. [Cf. F. discernement.]
   1. The act of discerning.

   2. The power or faculty of the mind by which it distinguishes
      one thing from another; power of viewing differences in
      objects, and their relations and tendencies; penetrative
      and discriminate mental vision; acuteness; sagacity;
      insight; as, the errors of youth often proceed from the
      want of discernment.

   Syn: Judgment; acuteness; discrimination; penetration;
        sagacity; insight. -- {Discernment}, {Penetration},
        {Discrimination}. Discernment is keenness and accuracy
        of mental vision; penetration is the power of seeing
        deeply into a subject in spite of everything that
        intercepts the view; discrimination is a capacity of
        tracing out minute distinctions and the nicest shades of
        thought. A discerning man is not easily misled; one of a
        penetrating mind sees a multitude of things which escape
        others; a discriminating judgment detects the slightest
        differences.

Source : WordNet®

discernment
     n 1: the cognitive condition of someone who understands; "he has
          virtually no understanding of social cause and effect"
          [syn: {understanding}, {apprehension}, {savvy}]
     2: delicate discrimination (especially of aesthetic values);
        "arrogance and lack of taste contributed to his rapid
        success"; "to ask at that particular time was the ultimate
        in bad taste" [syn: {taste}, {appreciation}, {perceptiveness}]
     3: perception of that which is obscure [syn: {perceptiveness}]
     4: ability to make good judgments [syn: {sagacity}, {sagaciousness},
         {judgment}, {judgement}]
     5: the trait of judging wisely and objectively; "a man of
        discernment" [syn: {discretion}]