All 3 Uses of
discriminate
in
Tom Jones, by Henry Fielding
- Tom was a handsome young fellow; and for that species of men Mrs Honour had some regard; but this was perfectly indiscriminate; for having being crossed in the love which she bore a certain nobleman's footman, who had basely deserted her after a promise of marriage, she had so securely kept together the broken remains of her heart, that no man had ever since been able to possess himself of any single fragment.†
Book 5 *indiscriminate = without recognition of differencesstandard prefix: The prefix "in-" in indiscriminate means not and reverses the meaning of discriminate. This is the same pattern you see in words like invisible, incomplete, and insecure.
- This thought hath been carried so far, and is become so general, that some words proper to the theatre, and which were at first metaphorically applied to the world, are now indiscriminately and literally spoken of both; thus stage and scene are by common use grown as familiar to us, when we speak of life in general, as when we confine ourselves to dramatic performances: and when transactions behind the curtain are mentioned, St James's is more likely to occur to our thoughts than Drury-lane.†
Book 7indiscriminately = done without recognition of differencesstandard prefix: The prefix "in-" in indiscriminately means not and reverses the meaning of discriminately. This is the same pattern you see in words like invisible, incomplete, and insecure.
- To speak out boldly at once, she was in love, according to the present universally-received sense of that phrase, by which love is applied indiscriminately to the desirable objects of all our passions, appetites, and senses, and is understood to be that preference which we give to one kind of food rather than to another.†
Book 9
Definitions:
-
(1)
(discriminate as in: suffered discrimination) to treat people of different groups differently -- especially unfair treatment due to race, religion or gender
-
(2)
(discriminate as in: discriminating taste) to recognize or perceive differences -- especially fine distinctions