Secern is a verb that means to discriminate in thought.

The Latin word cernere (sir NARE ay) means ‘to separate.’ Our word of the day is similar in meaning and origin to the word discern. A person able to secern things could be said to have discriminating tastes.

In order for the office to succeed we needed someone who would secern the good offers from the bad ones. The inability to distinguish them would be bad news for the company.